Of the Spark and Heart: 5-Year-Remaster
by Scarlet Nightmare
Summary: 5th-Year Anniversary Edition! : The story of Fera and Solas Kaon is remastered - "The role of a Guardian is that we protect what we are assigned to guard, with our lives if necessary. That's what I was doing. And I would gladly do it again," he stated simply.
1. Chapter 1: When Worlds Collide

**Hey, guys!**

 **it's been a while, huh?**

 **It's a few days late, but...**

 **Happy five-year anniversary :)**

* * *

Of the Spark and Heart

Part 1

Chapter 1

"Now don't get me wrong, they're a very...interesting group, but that doesn't mean you need to impress them to get them to like you. You should know that by now."

Rain battered the windshield of the old, dull-blue Dodge minivan as Fera and her mother sat beside one another in the front seat. The girl's arms sit folded across her chest and her eyes remain trained viciously through the window to her right. Her long dirty-blonde hair was left to tumble over her shoulders while her long eyelashes fluttered over angered, icy blue eyes. Her pale skin was like her mother's, yet she hated to admit it. A milky complexion wasn't something she wanted to flaunt.

Said mother, Sarah, was going on and on over an incident that happened at her high school that day. What she thought was this: Fera was about to get in a fight with a smaller, very annoying female harasser and had gotten caught by a principle.

What actually happened was this: Fera had stood with her back to her locker, staring piercing blue eyes into the muddy brown of her persecutor's. Spit flew from the glossy-lipped blonde as she accused her cornered victim of looking at her jock boyfriend. Disgusting.

She gave an exasperated sigh, already having tried to defend herself at the school. Carina, the blonde who had started the argument, had burst into fake tears to gain the favor of the principle.

"Fighting will get you nowhere, especially if you want to be...what was it again? A string player?" her mother asked, rolling her hand in the air.

"A violinist," Fera said in a short, simple tone.

"Well if you want to do that, you'll have to realize that this behavior is unacceptable."

Fera rolled her eyes and focused on the rain droplets that flew across the window. The water was so free, so clear to run and fly like she wished she could. Her mother's voice droned on in the background, but she paid no attention.

From the time Fera was little, she knew she'd wanted to play the violin. She would watch each orchestra concert at her school and would even bother her mother enough that she would take her to see another school's kids play. It was only until she was in fifth grade did she actually get the chance to start her dream. Now she was a 17-year-old girl and a senior in high-school and was nowhere near the level she strived to be at.

"So until you learn to-" Sarah cut off and cursed under her breath, sitting forward to squint through the hurried wiper blades before her. Fera looked to the road to see what had stopped the conversation. "These people act like they've never driven before!" Sarah snapped loudly, throwing a hand in the air. Fera looked ahead of them to see cars' red taillights shining and then blinking off. She too leaned towards the dash to get a better view.

Three cars, definitely luxury vehicles, were swerving in-between their neighbors as they revved loudly across the slick blacktop. Their windows were tinted a dark black, so she couldn't get a good look at who was driving. She recognized the models as a red Ferrari, a black and red Mustang, and a yellow Camaro. They sped off into the sheeting rain and Fera gripped the sides of her seat in interest. She had always loved Mustangs and Camaros, but now she was beginning to realize that a Ferrari wasn't such a bad car either.

Suddenly, an alarm went off behind the minivan, and her head whipped behind them to see the back window. A yellowish-green ambulance could be seen behind them, its lights dancing. The words _search and rescue_ decorated the strip of red on the side.

"As if I _could_ get over!" Sarah growled. Fera looked back in front of them and found the road clearing slowly, and Sarah sighed in relief before speeding up to pull over.

Out of nothing, abruptly, there was light.

Blinded, Fera raised an arm to cover her eyes. Her mother called out in surprise, causing the car to swerve. They both screamed, and Fera threw out her hands to grab the door in support. They spun, the world ripping fast around them. Squealing of the rubber wheels could be heard, even in the cabin. Fera gripped the safety handles above her like her life depended on it. Maybe it did. The ambulance behind them appeared for a split second before it too swept from view. The only noise between the women was their panicked voices, now struck deathly silent as the driver tried desperately to control the vehicle.

Finally, it stopped moving, its body shaking with the sudden stop. They sat for only mere seconds, disheveled and heaving for air, before the ambulance behind them came into peripheral again. It skidded to a stop beside their van, idling next to the door. Fera's eyes snapped to it, her heart pounding from more than the slick road. She felt a cold chill run down her spine and she gripped the necklace at the base of her neck.

On the door, beneath the black window and ladder, was the image of a robot's face. Then the Hummer was off, its wheels wasting no time to speed away.

"Are you alright?" Sarah gasped with a strangled voice as she touched Fera's shoulder. Her daughter looked to her and quickly nodded, her hand shaking with the necklace in her grasp. It had been a present from her late father, promised to be a protective force for her. At least she knew they were both ok, so maybe he had been right.

That would make the next thing she did a lot easier.

She whipped around to her side door, clasping the handle and pushing. It wasn't locked, but it was jammed. "What are you doing?" her mother demanded in concern and confusion. Fera ignored her, ramming her shoulder over and over into the barrier. It popped open with a creak and she leaped from the car. "Wait! Fera, where are you going?!"

Fera slammed the door shut, making sure her mother was safe inside. The pouring rain slipped down her neck and her skin prickled with the stabbing cold that came with it. She popped up her hood and looked around. The cars were still there.

Four of them, including the Hummer, were all heading back towards her. Fera froze, unsure what to do. Why were they coming back? Suddenly, a jet-black Lamborghini screamed out of the traffic lines and straight towards Fera. Her movements ceased and she fell still, frozen in shock. Her hand tightened on her necklace, her eyes locked on the speeding machines before her. Her own blood, splattered across the blacktop, crossed her mind and her lungs seized. A loud, shrill alarm sounded and she shook her head, realizing it was the ambulance. The Lamborghini never slowed, and her mind went into flight mode.

Her eyes flicked to the cars around her, and even to the van beside her. She could hear her mother's muffled banging on the window inside. It was almost certain that she wouldn't get the stuck door open in time, so she instead shot across the road. A flash of red caught her attention and her head turned to see what was happening. The Mustang had separated from the other three cars, coming up and around to drive side by side with the Lamborghini. The driver of the Mustang then abruptly swiveled its wheels to slam into it. Both sharply turned and headed straight for the barrier, now leaned on by an upturned, stray automobile.

The two vehicles headed for the median, neither slowing.

 _What is_ _ **wrong**_ _with these people?_ Fera thought in horror. The Mustang broke off from its target and ran straight up the car, launching it high into the air. Not having as much time, the Lamborghini just barreled through the wall in an explosion of concrete and dust. Fera fell to her knees, her hand covering her mouth. It may have been the only thing that kept her from releasing the piercing scream that now burned her throat.

The Mustang broke off from its target and ran straight up the car, launching it high into the air. Not having as much time, the Lamborghini just barreled through the wall in an explosion of concrete and dust. Fera fell to her knees, her hand covering her mouth. It may have been the only thing that kept her from releasing the piercing scream that now burned her throat.

She expected rubble. She expected shrapnel covered in blood. She expected a crumpled-up shell of a machine. She expected a shredded, broken body. Her hand slipped over her chin, holding back bile. Petrified eyes scanned the smokey scene as she searched for the seared rubble that she thought would be scattered over the wet pavement.

What she didn't expect was there to be a mostly whole, actually still running, black luxury car. Four wheels suddenly ripping ribbons of grayish black, the shining form roared to life and it squealed from side to side. It immediately sped off the moment the air cleared.

Fera, shocked into silence, forced herself up by using the side of another abandoned Sedan sitting on the side of the street. Her knees threatened to buckle beneath her, her arms almost gave. But she still stood, staring after the Mustang and Lamborghini as they left only a muddy trail in their wake.

Maybe it was the deterring rain. Maybe it was her fatigue or shock. But what she knew it couldn't be was two, no make that five, psychotic drivers on a small highway in Amoret, Missouri.

The Hummer, Ferrari, and Camaro all followed suit after the Mustang a mere heartbeat after they disappeared past the destroyed barricade.

Fera was left in the rain. Alone. Her heart was hammering in her chest. She could barely hold her lunch.

But she had never felt so amazed.

A sudden, reckless desire had her pushing off from the safety of the Sedan and starting towards the pebbly result that was the exit. Her soaked tennis shoes squished beneath her as she started towards the broken median. Tire tracks showed clear in an embedded track on the surface of the mud and asphalt, so it was easy for her to track the direction they had escaped. Her mother would be ok. She would get help. Someone had to of called the emergency number by now.

Fera's foot slipped on a pebble and she was left to practically run down a muddy hillside. Her toe jammed for an instant, sending her flying through the air. Mud exploded around her, caking her face and sticking her hair to her neck. The thick substance shoved up her nose and made her twist her face in distaste as it touched her tongue.

"Great," she mumbled, trying to wipe it from her face and clothes. She managed to get most of it off, but some still stained her jacket and pants.

She shoved herself back to her feet and put down her hood so the rain would wash her face and hair. She also took a rubber band from around her wrist and tied up her hair.

There was no hesitation now. She had to see what all this craziness was about. Maybe if she was lucky she would see the men or women behind the wheels.

She heard loud graveled sounds of wheels on dirt in the distance and she ran faster. The mounds around her were strange, consisting mostly of collected piles of rocks, mud, and rubble. It was probably a construction site, but she didn't focus much on that as she continued on. There was a series of groans and then a sudden human-like grunt before the mound in front of her exploded. She gasped and fell back on her rear, fumbling around to get to her feet. She sprinted around a nearby pile and ducked, pressing her back against it while her chest heaved.

"What the-" she breathed. Her voice abruptly cut off as something large and heavy struck the dirt behind her. She squeezed her eyes shut and winced as a loud cry sounded.

"Friggin 'Con," a deep, slightly gruff voice growled.

Fera's eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Whatever that was on the other side of the hill, it wasn't normal. She dreaded the thought of what exactly was beside her.

Worst case scenario, she had just wondered upon a heavy fight. But these didn't sound like your normal, everyday James Bond pistol and Goldeneye. These were bazookas.

There was another burst of earthly matter and the ground thrummed, dull quivers shaking the earth. oozing mire slipped like a snake over her shoulder and she leaned forward to separate the contact. The mud made a loud sucking sound, and she strained to free herself from the quicksand at her feet.

When she finally yanked her dirtied shoes clear, she went stock still at the feral snarl that split the air. Her blood went cold.

Slowly, her eyes moved to her right, her lips parted. Her hand slipped from her face, taking most her lip gloss with it. Her hair dripped down her back, making the atmosphere around her even colder.

Right there.

Right next to her, was a giant, blue-eyed robot.

Its body was pinned beneath another, its arms up to protect itself. The attacker had furious red lights for eyes, a mysterious black mask covering its nose and lips. Suddenly its face turned towards Fera and she nearly dropped to the ground then and there. The battling behemoths beside her briefly stopped their struggles and glanced down at her.

The one on the ground seemed to roll its eyes, its face moving with hundreds of tiny, flat metal pieces.

"Primus. Great."

It was the same voice she'd heard the first time. It sounded male. At least, as male as you could get with a sentient toaster.

He focused back on his attacker and suddenly threw up his torso, elbowing the other in the face. Its head snapped back and it fell with a swift kick from the one on the ground.

Fera didn't have the time to think of running away as the form on top of him fell over, disappearing as it stood to dodge behind some other channels of bulldozed material.

"Bee! Kinda could use some help here!" he called roughly, pushing himself up from the mud. Fera's head snapped around the mound just as yet another robot leaped over the crumpled dirt pile. It was smaller than the first one, its face slightly different as well. It sprinted over to its comrade and suddenly looked up, seeing Fera. It then hopped sideways, pointing at the girl by the ground.

The bigger one waved a hand, "I got it, go!" he yelled.

Bee gave a nod and twisted around, running after the fallen target. It twisted around and Bee gave it a swift punch in the face, caving in the metal and throwing it backward. Fera winced, and she didn't even know why.

"Ratchet! We got a human!" the black one yelled, brushed his hand over his dirt-covered armor.

Fera fell once again to her butt, looking upon a gigantic titan as he towered over her. She jerked as another robotic face peered over the mound down at her. She tried crawling away, her hands dragging her across the mud. Her fingers dug into the soft, clutching muck as it tried holding her in place.

"Frag!" Ratchet huffed, pushing the top of the mound over. She jerked and held herself away from the tumbling dirt, glancing up in fright at what this suddenly monster might do. A flash of red behind Ratchet had Fera's mind racing with the thought of yet another giant nearby.

"Don't worry Bee, Mirage's got ya!" it yelled in a slightly Italian accent, two blades shifting from its wrists.

Fera looked from the black and red robot to Ratchet. "It's a female," the black and red one noted.

Fera's mouth opened and closed over and over like a dying fish. What _was_ this?

Ratchet snorted and shoved the red and black comrade. "That's quite obvious you short-circuited sparkling," he remarked.

He looked down at his arm and brought it up, pressing a few buttons that Fera couldn't see. Her eyes were wide and her ponytail was a mess. The black and red robot watched her in silence as Ratchet continued to fiddle with his wrist. Sounds of scraping and crushing metal echoed behind the two towering, mechanical beasts and Fera's gaze flicked behind them. Weren't they concerned in the least for their friends? A loud laugh sounded and Fera's mouth fell open again.

The red and black robot crossed his arms, a small grin twitching on his face. Was this amusing to him?

Fera was sure that, if the two giants were going to kill her, they would have done it by now. Killers didn't have humor. Well, some did, but those were psychopaths. She came to the better conclusion and slowly started to get to her feet. Mud caked her hands and she wiped them on her jeans, making sure to keep her eyes trained on those before her. Rain ran down her hair and bounced off the top of her head to give her a small crown of water. The two robots were also being bombarded by the sheen, a frame of it surrounding them.

"Now stay dead, you pit-spawn!"

It was enough to get the red and black robot to look behind him, causing Fera to become curious as well. The red robot was coming back over the rubble, his blades shifting back into his wrists. The yellow, smaller robot followed quickly behind him.

 _What are these things?_ she wondered. The fear was nearly gone now. It became replaced by something different, something like...wonder. The yellow robot was jumping around in front of the red one, his fists up and punching as if in mock battle. The red robot laughed, a sound not much different than that of a human.

"I alerted Optimus of our situation and he's waiting for further information," Ratchet reported. Fera looked from titan to titan, unsure of what to do. Did they forget about her?

"Who's Optimus?" she dared call up. All robots looked down at her as if she'd said something stupid. She immediately felt like she wanted to disappear under each vivid blue gaze.

 _Maybe I should just have run when I'd had the chance_ , she realized regrettably. She still had that thought in her choices and the adrenaline in her system.

"It talks," the red one noted. Fera looked up, seeing he too was one of the smaller of the fighters.

The smallest of the robots, Bee as he'd been called, let his gaze snap to Fera. He swiftly came over and dropped to a squat right before her, making her jump in surprise and back up a few steps. She couldn't speak as her fright sent a series of warnings through her body, making her tense in preparation to run.

The bot had his knees jutted out like a grasshopper, one arm draped over. His other hand helped him keep his balance. He had no mouth, just a sort of cap. But his eyes showed all emotion, their smiling gaze enough. Fera knew right then that there was nothing to fear. Her shoulders relaxed and her posture became less cautious.

" _Hello...It's...Bee_ ," it said. The small robot's words were clipped, and it seemed he talked by using the radio. The waves bent and hummed as he searched the stations for the correct words.

" _Your name...what could it be, Darlin'?_ " he asked cheerfully. At first, Fera was again lost for words. Was this some kind f joke? Or was she dreaming? It was all so overwhelming.

Her tongue suddenly seemed thicker, less cooperative. "Um...well..." She looked from blue gaze to blue gaze, finally resting on Bumblebee's again. "It's Fera," she answered.

Bumblebee gave some excited clicks and he shuffled up onto his feet. " _That's a beauty...sounds like honey_..." he commented. Unable to help herself, Fera found her lips breaking into a smile. This guy was actually kinda cute.

"Well, Fera, I hope you're prepared for what you've gotten yourself into," one of them said. Fera looked up, seeing that the voice belonged to the red and black being.

Ratchet nudged his peer and held out his hand. "You may be new on earth Sol, but this is a complicated matter." He let his hand fall and Sol narrowed his eyes irritably. "Bumblebee, bring Fera back with us to base. We'll rendezvous there with Optimus." Ratchet then walked around Sol, stepping toward the downed 'Con. Sol uncrossed his arms and huffed at the other. Bee chirped happily, a series of clicks and beeps coming from the small 'bot.

His head then sunk into his chest, the plates on his head receding back. His body twisted and reformed, loud clanks and the noise of twisting metal attacked Fera's ears. It sounded like a heavy iron hammer being bashed into an anvil. Bumblebee's arms and legs disappeared as they connected themselves to the body, the sort of wings on his back coming around to slam shut against his sides. A hood appeared, along with the top of the form. It slammed down and four wheels rolled through the mud, spraying it everywhere.

Fera raised her arms to block the assault and then stared at the thing before her. She had seen every horror movie, every thriller, every sci-fi movie that any child her age could be interested in. But she had never witnessed a thirty-foot tall robot turn into a custom yellow Camaro. Lights swam before her eyes and a lightheaded feeling washed over her. How much more could she take of this?

 _This is crazy_ , she thought in consternation. _This can't possibly be happening. It's not possible_. The fallback emotion that any normal human being jumped back to when faced with such unspeakable amazement could only be seen as denial. It was the easiest way to keep one's sanity.

The other four robots took their own turns to twist and reform and create the unique sounds of their transformations. Now before her were the four psychotic drivers from the highway. She yanked a hand through her hair and looked from one to another, placing a hand on her hip.

"Now I'm going to think bad drivers are huge transforming robots." Her hand fell and the Camaro's door swung open. She gave a short, disbelieving laugh. "My dad has to be laughing in his grave right now."

For about a minute, Fera refused to come forward. The robot-car-aliens (because she was pretty sure these things couldn't be artificially or naturally from earth) waited for her, even though she seemed ready to bolt any second. The black one revved impatiently while Bumblebee just sat there like he was a normal, inanimate car. A million and one questions filled her brain, both suspicious and curious. What would these beings do with her? What did they want? Would they hurt her?

As her stomach dropped in the uncertainty, she swallowed the nerves there. "Come on, human! We don't have all day!" one of them (the black one she assumed) called. Startled, she jumped and switched her gaze to the waiting group and Bee.

I am going to hate myself for this, she opted grimly. But unknowing about why to even her, she climbed into the offered cab anyway. It slammed shut, locking her inside the dark, padded car. The radio buzzed and hummed for a moment before it gave a whistle and then found a station to start playing life is a highway.

Fera let her body fall back against the seat as she watched each car before them start up and speed away. When they followed after, they ran swiftly through the construction zone. The group made sure to keep out of sight of the distant highway. Strangely, the seats began to warm her chilled body and Fera let herself calm down a bit. The music played on and she suppressed a few shivers of uncertainty. What had she'd gotten herself into?

Trying to keep her mind in the better light of the moment, Fera watched the road ahead.

"Bee?" she said in thought. "I think my dad knew about you guys." Not expecting an answer, she strayed into silence. The music faded and the car shifted gears, crawling across on 4-wheel drive after its comrades when they came across a particularly rough patch of road.

" _How could I have known...I didn't know his last name?_ " the station made out, causing Fera to run her sore fingers through her dirtied scalp again.

"Am I awake?" Her hand slipped from her hair and rubbed down her face. "Someone, pinch me."

There was a moment of disturbing quiet from the car and then a sharp pain zipped up Fera's spine. She jumped and gave a high-pitched squeak, lifting herself up with her hands so that she was hovering over the seat. "What was that?!" she squealed.

Bumblebee chirped and gave another buzz before answering, "' _Pinch me, I'm dreaming_ '... _couldn't help myself_..." he answered her with a few radio clips.

This was just too weird. "Well...thanks? But, next time, can you give me a little warning?" she muttered, slowly lowering herself back into the seat. Bee gave a brief buzz and then started up the music again.

* * *

 **After 2 years of writing this story, and then letting it sit for three more years,**

 **I realized that this was one of the only stories I've ever been proud of.**

 **You guys are amazing, and I think you deserved an upgrade.**

 **Thank you all so, so much.**

 **I'd never be where I am without you.**

 **~SN**


	2. Chapter 2: Larger Than Life

**Summer break is almost over, and it's time to start college!**

 **My life changes from here on out :)**

 **Thanks for being apart of that.**

* * *

Of The Heart And Spark

Part 1

Chapter 2

The music was comforting at least. If not for the fact that Bumblebee was the one driving, Fera could have imagined herself back with her mother. It seemed like such a long time ago, but according to the clock on the dashboard, it was only 5:30. Two hours had passed since the incident on the highway. How far would that have gotten them?

"Where are we?" Fera finally spoke up, not having said a word since Bates county.

Bee buzzed and clicked, static filling the air as he searched. " _Ain't no home like Missouri...Earth, Baby...we ridin' the Milky Way_." He seemed so proud of his answer - as proud as one could sound over the radio.

Fera sunk into the seat and smiled a bit. "I meant _where_ in Missouri?" She gave a small chuckle and Bumblebee somehow emitted a hum. Abruptly, a light flashed before the girl, startling her to snap up straight.

Before her was a holographic map of Missouri. A small glowing dot flashed alongside a group of three others, steadily moving near the counties of Miller and Moniteau. Other blinking lights flashed all over the united states, four of them tracking Bee and his comrades' movements. There were only less than 30 in total however, and Fera began to wonder exactly how many giant alien robots were still walking among the Earth after all that had happened between them and the government. There was a cluster of these glowing spots at Chicago, Washington D.C, and San Diego, California.

Fera curiously lifted a hand to lightly touch the floating thing, happily finding that it reacted to her touch. She zoomed out the picture and saw a flat layout of the rest of the continents, finding at least one light on each continent. She zoomed in again and sat back.

"Where are we going?" she asked, looking to the radio. The scan button was held down by some unseen force and the radio jostled and stumbled over itself.

" _Meet the big boss, the big boss_..." he chanted over a hip-hop rhythm.

"Optimus?" she wondered.

The creature gave one happy buzz and then let the noise die off. An unsettled knot formed in her stomach. Who was this mysterious figure they kept mentioning?

 _Maybe it's some secret man from the government_ , she thought. _Dad dealt with them a lot_. _I wonder what they do with people who find out about them_. The knot turned into a full-on nervous ache.

Quickly looking for a distraction, she turned her attention to an old toy that hung off Bumblebee's rearview mirror. It was a flat, faded bee-shaped piece of cardboard, with a miniature disco ball hanging beside it. The girl gave a short laugh and gently touched the decoration between her two fingers, wiping away the dusty film that was there.

" _Sammy-boy, that ol' Sam_..." Bumblebee noted over the radio waves.

Sam?

Fera released the small decoration and looked down at the dash with a knitted brow. "My father knew a boy named Sam. Who was he?"

Bumblebee took a moment before he answered, searching through the stations. Meanwhile, Fera had to remind herself that she was talking to a car - an alien car that transformed into an enormous robot that could possibly level a city - but a car nonetheless.

"Family," Bee said suddenly. It didn't sound like something from the radio. It was too clean-cut and clear.

So he _could_ speak.

"I'm sorry if it bothers you to talk about him. It makes me sad to talk about my dad sometimes," she murmured. "He died about six years ago. He was on a mission and he'd been injured not long into it. He was sent home and a few weeks later, he was just...gone." She felt her throat tightening up at the memory, visions of her father laying on that hospital bed squeezing her heart.

Bumblebee gave a long, comforting buzz as she dropped her eyes momentarily. Grabbing her necklace, she gave a tight smile and rubbed the building tears from her eyes. "It's ok, I was proud of him then and I'm proud of him now." A short pause. "He actually gave me this before he passed." She opened up her palm, exposing the charm.

There was a high, appreciative whistle from the car that she couldn't help laughing at. "Yeah, I know. I like it too." She looked up and saw the same symbol on Bumblebee's steering wheel that she'd noticed on Ratchet's side on the highway. She then glanced up and looked at the other cars, seeing the same emblem on each. "What's this symbol?" She laid her hand on the wheel and stroked her thumb across the indented metal.

Bee searched the stations, but seemed to find nothing. There was a crude sound from his engine, and then a guttural roar.

"It's the-"

It was the same voice that had said "family" earlier, but it immediately cut off again as a loud choking noise started up, shaking the passenger inside. Obviously, it was difficult for him to speak.

" _Are you ok?_ "

A new voice came over the radio. It sounded like Ratchet.

As if on cue, the greenish-yellow Hummer slowed its pace and drove beside the Camaro. Bumblebee responded by a click and a confident hum.

" _Well don't strain your vocal processor, we don't want you to hurt yourself_ ," he said with an edge of concern. Fera blinked. _Concern_? Was it even _possible_ for robots to feel emotion? She had seen the smile on Bumblebee's face earlier, but she'd though it was only just an illusion.

" _Fera, what happened?_ " Ratchet addressed her directly, causing the young woman to jump.

It was the first time she had been asked anything this entire encounter - by a living truck at that.

Looking out the side window, she watched the Hummer as she answered, "I just asked him what the symbol on your side meant," she said as calmly as she could. The soaking wet hair that she had placed back into her hood now had bled through her shirt and she gave a shiver at the cold. The seat suddenly began to warm and she gave a soft "thanks" in gratitude.

" _That symbol is one of choice. It means freedom for all those who have the option of choosing so - for all sentient beings,_ " Ratchet explained. " _It is a symbol we have protected for millennium and over, all for the sake of peace and justice and happiness. Do you understand?_ "

Fera nodded before she realized he couldn't see into the cabin. "Yes. I do," she said softly. She shifted and placed her feet back on the floor, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets and melting into Bumblebee's warm seats. "Dad wore it around the house all the time." Her eyelids grew heavy as the cold slowly left her body. This whole ordeal had left her emotionally and physically drained. "I'd ask him what it was and he'd tell me the same thing every time: peace. And when I'd tell him to teach me more he would just pat my head and tell me one day I'd know." The smile left her face and she studied the dashboard in silence. Neither Ratchet nor Bumblebee responded to the comment.

And what _could_ they say? It was a human matter; they wouldn't even care.

Fera settled in to Bumblebee's steering wheel and wrapped her arms around her chin, finally allowing her heavy eyes to close and let her drift off into sleep. She could warily hear the conversation between the two robot cars before the darkness overcame her.

" _Who do you figure her father may have been?_ " Ratchet murmured over the radio. Bumblebee whirred quietly and Ratchet huffed. " _Well it couldn't be Sam and Carly. They had a son named Daniel. The other sergeant had four small daughter and a son, to which should all be as old, if not older than this one by now_." He seemed frustrated, somehow trying to pull down a process of elimination.

" _It must have been one of the soldiers on base at the time_ ," he decided, evidently giving up on the matter. Bumblebee buzzed and gave a short click, not saying a word, radio or otherwise.

Ratchet, seemingly over the matter, didn't say anything and his fuzzy silhouette picked up pace. The darkness became heavier, muddling her thoughts and slowing both her heart and her breathing. Would this all be gone when she was asleep? If this world had suddenly become a dream, she wasn't sure how she would feel when she woke up. Did she want this to be reality? Honestly, the entire event scared the living hell out of her. Then again, these beings were connected to her father.

" _This is Optimus to team, we are..._ "

It was such a soothing voice. Fera smiled into her arms.

She had to find out more.

* * *

It was the revving of the engine that woke her. She was dreaming of the last time she and her father had been together, playing in the field in summer. The sun was warm on their faces and Fera had laughed happily while he grinned from ear to ear. His uniform was like a second skin as he wore it once again before he left for that last fatal mission.

"Fera!"

Her eyes shot open and she threw up her body from the pillow of her arms. It was dim around her, nothing but the dull lights on the outside of the car and the glowing buttons of the dashboard clearing her head. The smell of wet concrete and sulfur met her nose and she knitted her eyebrows in confusion.

 _Where am I?_ she wondered, looking out the windshield. Groggy, and not fully aware of what was happening around her, she squinted her eyes.

Four tall structures composed of differing plates of metal, wires, and bolts met her view. She blinked, studying them harder. There was a ball on the backs of one of their figures, spinning anytime there was movement. There were also splayed bands of metal by the very bottom of the pieces, giving balance to whatever sit atop.

Whatever sit atop...

Fera's eyes grew wider as she slowly peered up to the source of the symphony of steel. Those plates connected to other bands, bolts, pipes, and poles, getting larger until she met the face of an annoyed-looking robotic creature. Twin eyes of startling blue drilled down to her very core.

So it hadn't been a dream.

For some reason, she felt relieved by that realization.

Bumblebee was the one who had revved his engine, trying to wake her. "Thanks for not shocking me again," she mumbled, getting an excited whirr from the joyful creature.

The door of the car opened, allowing her to step through. As she rose, she immediately felt the vastness of the space and the chilliness that came with it. Goosebumps rose along her arms and legs from more than the cool breeze coming in from the entrance tunnel. She stood in a large, concrete room, at least two-hundred feet high, with steel rafters supporting the scaffolds and catwalks hung high enough to be eye level with the robots.

Soldiers in uniform were walking the floating paths, strolling past the robots like they were a normal, everyday thing. Fera gaped up at the lights flooding the room with a bright whiteness, and felt her ears overwhelmed with sounds of steam and voices and computers and footsteps. Loud bangs and metallic clanks started up behind Fera before Bumblebee suddenly moved into view, walking towards Mirage. Sol, the supposedly newest on earth, was standing up against the wall, watching her. Was it interest, or derision in his features? She gave up and instead found Ratchet sitting on a steel box, fiddling with something in his hands. He lifted one and it suddenly shifted, reasserting itself in a sort of blowtorch.

The girl couldn't believe anything that was going on around her. Random people walked by without paying her much attention, dodging the feet of the robots as they passed. A few of them even called a greeting to the arrivals.

The grey, still walls were somewhat lifeless and constricting, making her feel closed-in and small despite the openness. She rubbed her arms and looked between the personalities all standing before her.

"I don't understand how you all stand this place," she said, taking another chance to look around. The ceiling was so far away that the lights that hung from it looked like stars. "It's so...lifeless. And it's almost claustrophobic." She moved her arms and began to take off her jacket, promptly tying it around her waist. Ratchet and Sol looked to her, before the latter glanced away with a smirk on his face. Bumblebee was gazing up, turning slowly in a circle as if he too had just arrived. Mirage was flipping the blades at his wrists in and out, seeming bored with the deadly weapons.

What were they all waiting for? Where they all just cooped up here? All the time? Fera couldn't imagine.

She gripped the charm around her neck again, finding comfort in its presence. Strangely enough, she could never figure out exactly what the it was, or what it meant. But she did know this: it had been very important to her father, so it was thus very important to her. She looked down on it a moment, rolling the stone between her fingers. It resembled glass, with a diamond shape and four flat faces on each end of the wide middle. The sides of it were long and slim, with the bottom end set in an almost needle-like point. An octahedron, as it was accurately called.

It gave off a curious, yet disturbing energy. Fera didn't know why, but it was felt familiar from the moment her father put it in her hands. He had mentioned that it had come from a dear friend, lost to him in the war. He never talked much about it though, and when he did, Fera had been too young to remember much these days. Every so often, like a whisper in her mind, she would almost recall something. But then it would only fade, leaving her frustrated and on the edge of tears. The chain of the necklace gave a soft jingling sound as she clenched it harder.

"Yes, Ratchet here."

Fera looked up from her solitary moment, seeing the greenish robot now standing on his feet, his hand by what she assumed was his ear.

"Confirmed." He paused, "Yes, the human girl is here with us." He looked up at Fera and she froze, charm in hand. "No, the Decepticon attack was just a rouse. Apparently our presence here was for nothing." He again fell silent. "She's planning something, I know it." A hard tone came to his voice, causing an uncomfortable tightening in Fera's chest. "Affirmed. Out." Ratchet dropped his hand and jerked his head down a hallway cut off from the rest of the room. A door, similar to that of a garage, cut off the rest of the hall from view. Mirage pushed off the wall and followed Ratchet in, the barrier closing behind them.

Bumblebee, seeming bored already, moved across the room to get down close to Fera's level. He tapped the floor to get her attention and she whipped around, accidentally locking her ankles together and promptly falling flat on her ass. A hearty laugh came from where Sol stood in the corner. She winced and then whipped around to glare at the robot, now completely sure he was still sticking around just to make her visit here unbearable. Bumblebee on the other hand whirred in concern. When he offered to help her up, she waved a hand, shaking her head.

"No, it's ok Bumblebee, you just scared me is all," she assured. She began to stand and Bumblebee offered a finger anyway. Her clumsiness left her abashed as she let him help her up. "Thanks. Again." When she was up, she rubbed at her backside sorely. Bumblebee gave a series of clicks and then a smile before sitting.

His legs jutted out sideways the same way hers did when Fera practiced doing the butterfly pose in yoga. He gave a few small noises, watching her expectantly. She rubbed the back of her neck, unsure what exactly to do.

"I don't know what you want from me," she finally admitted.

The alien gave a clear, prominent shrug, once again falling still and alert. She let her hand fall back down and then looked back at Sol. He put up both hands, excluding him from help.

"Hey, don't look at me, I've never had to entertain a cyberling before," he said, crossing his arms again.

Fera rolled her eyes and turned back to Bee before doing a double-take. "Wait," she returned to Sol, "what's a cyberling?"

Sol look down at her with his teal-blue eyes, not answering right away. "What is it you call your youth on this planet?" he inquired.

Fera rubbed her hands together and then looked down at them. "Children. Or in my case, a teenager. It depends on the age." She looked up at Sol and found him paying only vague attention. He didn't really seem to care.

"Well, in the stages of a Cybertronian's life, we go in this order:" he held up his hand, "Sparkling," he held up a mechanical finger, "youngling," another finger, "cyberling," another finger, "and then Cybertronian." He set his hand back on his arm.

She in turn glanced back to Bumblebee. "So you're a teenager," she said, giving a smile. Bumblebee nodded, reaching out with a hand.

Fera found herself going for it before she could even think, gently taking up one of his massive fingers. The rough lines and patterns that littered the surface were like the genetic codes on a person's finger. She came closer, no longer afraid, examining closer. Surprisingly, it wasn't even cold. In fact, it was pleasantly warm.

"Sol?" she questioned absentmindedly, not taking her eyes off Bee's finger.

"Hm?" he grunted back.

Fera took a finger and placed it on Bumblebee's palm, slowly dragging it up the digit until it strayed on the edge. "What's a Cybertronian?" she asked, now using her thumb to lightly press the tip of Bumblebee's finger. Sol didn't answer right away, simply watching her while she had no clue.

The silence was almost unbearable. She twisted her head around to see what he was thinking, but when she saw his pensive quiet, she decided to drop the subject. It obviously was a touchy one, and she didn't want to push him - not after just meeting these amazing giants from space.

Deep, heavy steps came from the same direction Ratchet and Mirage had left, and Fera didn't look up to know it was them. Sol didn't say a word, and neither did Bumblebee.

Then the steps stopped. A pulse of air hissed out of a pipe. Fera stopped tracing Bee's hand.

"A Cybertronian is an inhabitant from the planet Cybertron - our lost planet and home, thousands upon thousands of light-years away from your own."

That same voice: the soothing one she had heard over the radio before she fell asleep.

Fera turned, dropping Bumblebee's hand and instead finding herself almost bending backwards to see the face of the bot that stood before her.

This was not Ratchet.

The first thing she noticed was that he was much taller than any of the others she had thus met. She saw legs wider than she could stretch her arms across, and feet with three toes splayed out to balance the skyscraper standing on them. Wheels hung on his hips, with what could only be the stomach being made up of even more overlapping and puzzled parts. Two windows sat across his chest, with mighty metal arms hanging from high, broad shoulders. A masked face stood out with a dark blue helmet and bright blue eyes, a crest on his forehead stretching for the sky. Blue and red flaming decals covered his body. And on his chest he wore the proud symbol of freedom and peace that Ratchet had told her about.

Optimus came even closer to Fera, making her feel ever smaller. The mask across his face slid off with a sound like a knife on a sharpener.

"My name is Optimus Prime," he rumbled. "As you must have witnessed, our kind has the abilities of reforming ourselves into your earth-based mechanical vehicles." The pipe on his shoulder hissed again and a small white cloud burst from the opening to dissipate into the air. "I am the leader of a series of Cybertronian beings called Autobots. We are in alliance with your government, and we mean no malice towards you or your race." He paused again, and, to Fera's horror, Bumblebee stood to leave the pair alone. "What is your name, young one?" Optimus asked, two narrow slits over his incredible blue eyes closing and then opening again like eyelids. Fera opened her mouth and then snapped it shut, staring in shock at who was before her. She couldn't answer. Her voice was lost to her. She couldn't. She was too nervous.

But Optimus said nothing, waiting. And waiting.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she uncurled her fingers from around her necklace. "My name is Fera Lennox," she finally answered, taking deep, even breaths. Was the air always so thin?

Optimus gave a nod, but hadn't said anything right after. When he stood, Fera took a step back and couldn't help her hand as it snapped to her charm again. Optimus' hand motioned to Bumblebee and the smaller bot stood at the attention. "Bumblebee, take Fera Lennox to an informer. Our new guest should be acquainted."

Bumblebee gave an understanding buzz and then he moved towards the girl.

"We shall get another chance to conference soon," Optimus reassured before turning away. There was something in the massive robot's tone that she found confusing. It was something between interest and caution. She didn't dwell on it long, lost in her own wonder and awe.

She then ripped her gaze from the retreating form to see Bumblebee. He wasn't transforming, but held his hand towards her with his fingers spread open. No, he couldn't mean that.

"He's going to carry you," Sol intoned from his corner. Without another word, he pushed off the wall and followed Optimus Prime down another hall to their left.

Fera's instincts screamed at her to deny the offer and walk herself. It would be slower, sure, but she was willing to do that over being carried by a giant metallic being from another planet. Then again, when she saw the utter confidence in this Autobot's gaze, she couldn't help but feel a bit more trustful. A sigh left her the same time her denial was shoved back down her throat.

Nervously, she stepped forward and placed one foot on the metal hand. "I'm trusting you Bee," she said with a trembling touch. She set her fingers on his arm and then fully stepped on. Her body shook and nearly fell as he shifted up, lifting her higher and higher. In terror, she latched onto his arm.

Was he this tall before?

The movement stopped and she sat with her eyes squeezed shut, letting her rustled stomach settle. When she did open them again, she suddenly found herself eye-level with the robot. He gave a soft click and one long buzz. She blinked and said nothing. Bumblebee brought his hand closer to his body, stopping at his shoulder. His passenger got low and crawled across, turning to sit between his head and a large spinning bolt on his shoulder. His hand dropped and they started forward, lurching her body. A frightened hand shot out and clasped Bee's headgear tightly, steadying herself. Bumblebee didn't seem to notice.

The concrete ground beneath them seemed miles away and the height made Fera tighten her grip. Humans from below passed by with barely a single step, yet no one seemed bothered with walking mere feet away from being crushed. Some where simply walking, or talking with another. One woman in a lab coat walked right in Bee's way, causing him to stumble and tip-toe around her to not smash her underfoot. Amazingly, she was too busy to notice, a clipboard in hand.

The hall they were walking in was lower than the main lobby, giving a better light to the space. Doors lined the walls on each side, one being human height while the other tall enough to allow even Optimus through. Fera was no longer controlling a death grip on Bumblebee's body, her curiosity in the base too much to remember her fear. One of the soldiers below called up to Bee and gave a joyful greeting. He nodded and gave a click, raising his own hand.

"Bee? Where are we going?" Fera asked, leaning over to see the robot's face.

He turned his head in her direction. " _All in time...there's no need to rush_ ," he answered, shuttering the two slits over his eyes again.

The smell of stale air met under Fera's nose as they continued and she desperately wished the people here would open a window to let in a fresh breeze. Then she remembered that she had not seen a single window since their arrival. Were they even above ground?

"I just don't think it's wise at the moment."

It was a distant voice, one echoing in from the end of the hallway. Bumblebee stopped and turned towards one of the larger doors lining the wall.

"No, wait," Fera called, placing a hand on Bee's helmet again. The 'Bot stopped, looking at her in confusion. She was on Bumblebee's left shoulder, cutting off her view of the path to their right, where the source of the voice had came from.

"These days, it seems nothing is wise in our decisions. However, you must have more faith in her."

Without a doubt, that was Optimus' voice. Fera sat up straight, hiding against Bumblebee's head, as if the large creatures would see her.

"We don't even know her, Optimus. Who is to know if she decides to go to one of her friends and jeopardize our position? The risk is to great, faith or otherwise."

Ratchet.

Fera's eyebrows came down and a small spark of irritation started up in her chest. Images of herself standing up to the greenish-yellow 'Bot came to mind. However, that idea died as fast as fire in a snowstorm. There was a temper in this girl, but not stupidity.

"I knew her father personally for years. We can trust her," Optimus assured. There was a huff from Ratchet and Fera's eyebrows came up. He'd known her father?

Bumblebee shifted almost uncomfortably beneath Fera, seemingly nervous about eavesdropping. She comforted him by laying a hand on his chest, leaning forward as she did so. "It's ok, if they find us, I'll take blame," she offered. Bee stopped moving and buzzed uncertainly.

"It has taken over ten of those years to disprove our existence to the world, Optimus. If she replenished that knowledge, this planet would be breathing down our backs. We would be captured and passed around like a sparkling's toy, facing the humans' problems." She could tell Ratchet was trying hard to change his comrade's mind, but she hoped that Optimus would be stubborn enough to ignore the plea.

"What she knows will stay limited for now. Until we can fully prove she is trustworthy, her comprehension of our species will be provided by the men around her. The humans know not enough about our race yet to danger it," Optimus decided.

Fera sighed against Bee's head and she closed her eyes. _Thank the planet he came from for Optimus_ , she thought softly. Blue eyes opened once again, batting the tiredness she felt. _At least he understands I really don't want to harm any of them_.

She leaned forward once more and patted Bee's chest. "As if I had any friends to tell you guys about anyway," she chuckled in dark humor.

He gave a long, low whirr and seemed to smile back. The sound of heavy metal hitting stone sounded and Fera looked past Bee to see the end of the hall. Ratchet's angry form could be seen as he stalked down the opposite direction from which he came. He was muttering something inaudible, but Fera was afraid she didn't want to know anyway.

She finally allowed Bumblebee to open the large sliding door that hid a room beyond. There was still more concrete. The smell was still the same. And more metal occupied the space.

Fera's eyeshadow had spread across her lids from her nap earlier, making them look increasingly dark and exhausted. She rubbed them, dislodging most of it on her arm. Brown and black dust was smudged across it. She quickly drug it over her jeans, causing them to turn a variety of colors. Bumblebee's hand came up before Fera and she lifted herself unsteadily to her feet. Mud-encrusted tennis shoes with torn laces and peeling _Nike_ logos maneuvered around the different plates and spikes of metal that made his shoulder before she climbed across his palm.

Slowly, her handler let her to the ground, allowing her to safely step off. She did, and he stood up once more. Fera nodded up at him and rubbed a hand over one arm, disappointment settling over her shoulders once she turned away. The room only had a few things inside of it, including a metallic table, with two chairs that she swore she saw in a crime show drama.

" _Talk to me...how are you?"_

Fera look back at him. He had squatted down, his hands laid over his legs. "I'm ok," she said, giving a small, forced smile.

Bee sat all the way down, his legs crossed. " _Lyin', lyin' to me_ ," he insisted blankly.

Fera dropped her arm and looked over at the cyberling in confusion. How could he tell what she felt? Bee's head cocked to the side when she gave a bitter laugh.

"I don't know how I'm still being surprised at this point," she mused, backing up into one of the chairs by the table. "You really want to know?"

He nodded, peering down at her with nothing short of interest. Fera crossed her arms and studied the being, curious more than anything. Here was a mechanical beast, large enough to level an entire town, asking her about her feelings.

 _This is strange_ , she thought to herself. It couldn't be a dream, she knew that now. But for a moment, in meeting Optimus Prime, she hadn't felt more uncertain. This was all so overwhelming...maybe talking to someone - having an open ear to vent to - was what she needed.

Fera sat up in the seat and let her arms stray to the tabletop, her eyes never leaving Bee's. "This place - all of you," she waved a hand around to gesture at the base and its inhabitants, "is nothing like I could have imagined. This whole thing is just so...much. It gives me a headache to try to think about all that my father had done here. And that entire time, we didn't know a thing." She pinched the bridge of her nose and the room fell silent. Maybe talking to a Cybertronian wasn't the best idea she'd had. She needed a human.

" _I'm sorry_ ," was all he said.

The room became ensnared in a slightly awkward tension for about a heartbeat before Fera's hand dropped. She looked over at Bee and found him fiddling with his fingers in an attempt to avoid eye contact. Surprise was the first thing she felt, and then guilt. "No, no, it's not your fault," she said, getting up and moving across the floor. She set a reassuring hand on his knee and baby blue eyes glanced up into her own. "If anything, this is all my doing. I'm the one that decided it was a smart idea to follow you all."

Bee leaned forward a bit. " _What a guy...I knew before...a baby with her Daddy's eyes_."

Thin lips stretched into a grin and icy eyes melted to a sky blue. The aching in her heart stung when he mentioned knowing her father, but there was warmth too. She was standing right where he might have once. He could have looked into those same alien eyes and talked and laughed and cried with them. There was a whole other side of his life she was finally uncovering.

Fera opened her mouth to thank him, but the clang of the metal door interrupted her. She craned her neck to see around Bee's knee. A tall, dark-skinned man was walking towards the table, a clipboard in his hand. His black hair was littered with small grey flecks and he was grumbling to himself about being "too old for this crap". The clipboard was left to fall over the surface of the table and the man turned. Fera drew in a sharp breath, disbelief taking up her expression.

"Alright, let's get this over-" his words cut off and the annoyed look on his face shattered to shock. " _Fera?!"_

Fera bolted across the floor, throwing her arms around the man's neck.

"Uncle Rob!" she laughed. She happily squeezed the familiar form of her adoptive 'uncle' and he stumbled back a step, placing stunned hands on her back.

"What in the hell are you doing here, Fera? Where's Sarah?" he demanded.

Fera pulled away, noting the crisp, dark uniform he wore. "She's ok. I met Bumblebee and the others while I was out with her. Have you always worked with these...Cybertronians? Why did you and Dad never tell us?"

At his stern silence, she quickly decided to let that topic go. It had been a long while since she'd seen the man her father was closest to, and she didn't want to ruin the reunion yet. They let each other go and sat down on opposite sides of the table.

She continued, "I met Mirage and Ratchet and Bumblebee..."

"Was Sol there?" Rob wondered, and Fera nodded.

He blew through his lips in obvious distaste, grabbing the clipboard again. "Did you meet with Optimus Prime?" he wondered, looking up from over the board. She nodded, a smile creeping over her face.

"He was amazing, bigger than any of the others I saw." She pictured the massive Cybertronian again and his even, deep voice.

Robert grinned and gave a short laugh. "Yeah, I thought so too when I first saw him. Of course, that was when aliens were little green men who flew around in giant saucers." He let the clipboard fall back to the table. "And after almost twenty years of knowin' the guy, he still calls me Sergeant Epps." He chuckled and patted the table with a closed fist.

"You've known him that long?" Fera questioned, leaning over the table.

The man nodded, glancing over at Bumblebee in the corner. "Known him too. All of them, except Solas Kaon," he said, burrowing his brow.

"Solas Kaon?" Fera echoed, testing the name on her tongue. "Do you mean Sol?"

It was a name that sounded dangerous. But Sol didn't look like the type found cooing over a kitten either.

Rob waved a hand and rolled his eyes. "Whatever that cocky idiot calls himself," he huffed. "The point it that he compromised you and your mother's safety." He folded his arms in front of his chest and he tipped his head at Bee. "Your father never wanted us to tell you about them for a reason. _This_ was that exact reason."

Robert let his hand fall back onto the table and stared into her eyes. "He was protecting you. We all were. Even though they didn't know they were protecting you, they were. It was all in attempts to keep that safe." He pointed straight at Fera's neck and she lifted a hand to touch the charm.

"This? But...it's just a necklace."

Her uncle shook his head and then looked at Bee. Fera followed his gaze and they both found him playing with some form of magnetic force, using both negative and positive signals to cause a small shard of metal to float between his palms.

"It's far from that," Robert went on. "Your dad and I were good friends before he passed, but when he did, he took all we know about it to his grave. All I can tell you is that it comes from them and only they know how to activate it." Fera and her uncle locked eyes again. "After Chicago, it suddenly appeared one day. He wore it around his neck like it was his own heart. He never took it off. The fact that he gave it to you meant that he expected you to finally meet them one day."

Memories and moments in Fera's life that involved her father ran wild in her mind. It was such a fresh, raw wound. He'd meant everything to her. His death broke her down and left her believing that the world was collapsing around her. She had only been in 7th grade after all. However, before then, he had spoken to her - reassured her of the many wonders and excitements she would experience in her life. She had gotten hope remembering those words. Now she knew that he'd worked with these titans - knew that they held a special place in this world and her journey. No matter what Ratchet believed, they would never be truly forgotten. A new form of hope was budding inside her heart.

"It's a real shock that you all would meet up by coincidence like that," Rob mused, breaking her train of thought. "But it was bound to happen sometime, I guess." He stood up from the table and dragged his chair around to sit backwards, laying his arms on the backrest.

"Can you tell me about them?" Fera wondered, watching him.

He leaned back and thought for a moment. "That's why I'm here. Shoot."

Fera paused for a moment, glancing back at Bee and then to her uncle. "How do they do what they do? Transform, I mean," she started off.

Epps dropped his arms and set them on his lap. "Well, I don't really know. But I did overhear Ratchet a few years ago, talking about a sort of shifter device. You would have to ask him, he's he medic," he tried.

Fera put an elbow on the tabletop, setting her head on the fist. "What about their culture? Or how they get their names?" She looked up at Bumblebee, who in turn, looked up at her. She gave him a smile and returned her attention to the man before her.

"Optimus told me that all Cybertronians either came from two adults, or a thing called the AllSpark," he said. "It was like some form of ancient technology that allowed creation of both planets and life itself. It would take the sort of physical makeup of one robot, male or female, and then create a baby."

He paused for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was told not to say the other way in front of Bumblebee."

Female? They had female Cybertronians?

"The Autobots as you may have guessed, are these guys," Robert went on, jerking his head behind him. "And this is their symbol." He pointed to a small embroidered patch over his heart. It was the same robotic face she'd seen on Ratchet's vehicle mode. Bumblebee also had the symbol on his crest.

Question after question filed through Fera's head. Words fumbled to come loose, leaving her scrambling for the right thing to say. These were just such strange and fascinating creatures; she couldn't fully grip the thought of it all. For now, she would just ask what she could.

"Why are they here?" Her eyes flicked from Bee to Epps, who had lost his smile. He leaned over and patted her knee, standing afterwards.

"They're called Decepticons," he told her steadily. "The Autobots came to Earth to protect it after the Decepticons' psychotic leader arrived, looking for the AllSpark. He wanted to take over the universe or something, but he needed the Cube first." Epps reached over the table to get the clipboard, his other hand collecting a pen from his chest pocket. He clicked it once with his thumb and started writing on the paper.

"The Cube, meaning the AllSpark?" Fera assumed.

Epps peered up from the paper and grinned, glancing back down. "You're a lot smarter than your dad. It took him a few weeks to get the hang of all this Cybertronian stuff. But the 'Bots should be able to tell you what you want to know when anything comes up." He tossed the pen across the table and lowered the board. "I can't stay long. I have to go check out a disturbance with some Decepti-creeps. But I promise I'll see you and your mom soon."

He turned to leave and Fera got to her feet, hurrying to catch up to him before he left. "Wait," she called, making him stop and turn. She enveloped him in a tight hug and murmured in his ear. "It was nice to see you again."

Robert didn't hesitate this time to press his hands to her back and return the gesture. "You too, kid. You're growin' up way too fast."

They both released one another and Epps left without further word. Fera found herself alone with Bumblebee, who didn't seem to mind the company. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, allowing the overwhelmed teen to soak in the information she'd been told. There was so much more she wanted to know, like more on who the Decepticons were. There was also how the Cybertronians decided leaders, how they recorded history, marriage, war, home life, gender, weaponry... She came to the sudden conclusion that she knew next to nothing about these 'Autobots'. And she wanted to know everything.

Bee gave a soft hum when a few minutes of quiet had passed and Fera looked up to him. The yellow Autobot pushed himself to his feet and opened the larger door for himself, motioning for Fera to follow him. She went out the same door as Epps, not risking getting crushed by the large metal screen Bee simply held out of the way.

"There's a lot about you guys I don't know," she noted after meeting Bumblebee back outside. "And I'm not sure _how much_ I want to know. But one day, soon, I'll be having a talk with a few of you."

The robot and much smaller human walked down the concrete hall towards the lobby, the air becoming colder as their surroundings opened up. Fera untied her jacket from her waist and zipped up the front. Bee's large feet stomped next to her, but never close enough to endanger her.

 _They must have had a lot of practice watching their step over the years_ , she noted, glancing nervously beside her.

They got closer to the main entrance and the girl blinked, smelling a weird new scent in the air. Was it gunpowder? Or electricity? It seemed like a strange combination of both, confusing her. But, she waited to say anything until they reached the place they had first arrived. Once there, Bumblebee split off and left her alone to head over to a flat bench while four other Autobots stood around. Ratchet was there, with his arms crossed over his chest. Fera glanced at him, but then tore her eyes away before she said something she would regret. Grudges were for childish kids.

Sol was there as well, with Mirage standing by the entrance. There was another robot that Fera didn't recognize, but she noticed immediately. It was an extremely large, bulky bot, with a broad chest and two massive arms. His paint was all a forest green with an idle gun sitting on his shoulder.

He suddenly glanced down and saw Fera looking up at him, her lips slightly parted. He lifted a hand and gave a small jerk of it as greeting. "This is the new kid?" he asked with a rugged, graveled voice. The Autobot looked over to Ratchet, who leaned against the wall. "She's a small one."

Fera felt heat rise to her cheeks. She tried reigning in the annoyance threatening to climb out of her throat.

"Sorry to disappoint," she called to him. The dripping venom in her voice was enough to get the hulking Cybertronian to look back down at her with a bit of surprise.

He gave a rumbling chuckle and then lowered himself into a squat. "You've got fight in you, don't ya? Maybe you'd like to go one on one sometime," he offered mischievously, his arm coming around. A long tone like that of a charging computer sounded and yet another gun shifted itself from within the bot's wrist. Fera took an uncertain step back, her wide eyes trained on the weapon.

"Leave her alone Hound, she's had a long day from what I've heard."

There was another voice and both Fera and Hound looked up to see who it was. An Autobot, slightly taller, but not nearly as thick as Hound, walked up behind his comrade to enter the room.

"I was just playing around, Wheeljack, nothing to get concerned about," Hound insisted.

Wheeljack was a white Autobot, with green and red decals stripped across his arms and some parts of his chest. There were strips of metal that rounded around his face to create a mask, two fins sticking out of the sides of his head. "I'm sure Optimus wouldn't like it, whatever you're doing." The two fins on the sides of his head lit up with each word he spoke. He was one of the oddest of the 'Bots that Fera had seen yet.

"At least she didn't lose consciousness."

It was Sol's turn to speak, his position beside Bumblebee catching Fera's attention. Sol had no mask like some of the others, but instead had two sharp cuts of armor chiseling his cheeks. Two long bars stuck up from his shoulders, most likely being the spoiler from his car form. The black paint around his body, shoulders, and face gave him a dark, brooding look. There were two strips of red down his arms, one on each. She remembered seeing two wheels sunken into his back, while the other two hung on his lower legs. His feet were mostly silver, with the black and red coloring only starting towards his ankles. He definitely had height over Bumblebee, but he was still shorter than Optimus.

Fera shoved her hands into her pockets and played with the lint inside. "I've never fainted before," she muttered, intentionally keeping anyone from hearing.

The gathered 'Bots settled into the room and began to either talk with one another, or simply sit alone. Wheeljack and Hound soon left, with Mirage getting a call to the eastern wing area soon after. Fera settled herself close to Bee and Sol, waiting for whatever. She didn't exactly know what they were expecting, or who, but she knew that they wouldn't do so unless it was important.

Hopefully whatever they were in wait for would come soon, because according to the damaged phone Fera kept in her mud-stained jeans, it was close to seven o'clock at night.

Suddenly the noise of a banging door caught the entire room's attentions, human and Cybertronian alike.

A man dressed in a professional looking suit, complete with a red tie, stormed into the room. He was a tanner gentleman, with striking black hair streaked with grey. He seemed a little on the heavier side, but most of it was probably muscle. The expression on his red-stained face as he came thumping down the stairs was anything but pleasant.

"Ok, I have had just about _enough_ with all the human stowaways here," he snarled. "It is in strict violation of code and my superiors will _not_ be pleased to hear about you bringing in more civilians to this operation!" When he reached a solid platform, his meaty hands met the rail with a _clang_. He leaned over the side to get a better look around and he spotted Fera, sitting with confused, yet curious eyes up at him. "Great! A teenager! As if we needed another Twitter-junkie around." His voice was simple and normal, much unlike the rich, varied ones of the Autobots. Fera found it slightly annoying and boring at the same time.

"There better be an explanation for this!" he demanded loudly, his words ringing off the walls. Some of the men he hadn't yet seen dodged his gaze and ducked out of the room. The unlucky ones stood at attention, having to stand still until they were told otherwise.

"And _he_ would be...?" Fera asked out loud to no one in particular. She heard one of the Autobots shifting behind her from the mechanical hum their joints made.

"The most irritating, priggish being you will ever know," Sol intoned.

"Oh boy."

Large footsteps entered the room and Fera turned to the source. Once again, Optimus came in at the exact moment he was needed. He didn't appear happy to see their new arrival, though he kept a more professional disposition than his comrade. The blue and red Autobot leader was eye-level with the human, giving neither an edge over the other as he approached the scaffold and stood at its edge.

"Secretary Kepler, is there an issue?" he inquired respectfully.

Secretary Kepler reeled on the new entry into the room, his legs helping him to storm over closer to Optimus. "Prime, you better have a good reason for bringing yet another unauthorized body onto federal grounds," he growled, his hands held fast to the railing once more.

Optimus' features hardened a bit at the lack of respect being returned to him, but he soon molded his face to a neutral mask. "Secretary Kepler, the Autobots and I apologize for not forewarning yourself and your leaders of this matter beforehand. However, this was an on-sight matter resolved by my soldiers and it has been taken into record with an incidence report," he said calmly.

Secretary Kepler stood tall, removing his hands from the metal. Optimus watched him carefully. "That's all and well Optimus, but it still does not explain what her presence is here," Kepler went on, lifting his hands to straighten his tie. "She will have to be taken into government custody-"

"She has been given clearance by _your_ officials Secretary," Optimus stated, cutting him off. He narrowed his eyes in obviously waning patience. "Therefore, she is now under Autobot protection until further notice. She is free to leave this property as seen fit by grounds supervisors, as well as be guarded by one of my soldiers while awaiting further word." Optimus shifted on his feet and Secretary Kepler fell silent.

There seemed a lost for words when it came to Prime's statement. What could one say to that? It was clear as day that Fera wouldn't be going anywhere without Optimus' say so. It was amazing to think that Prime would go so far for her only after a day.

"That's Optimus Prime," Sol said from his position on the wall. "He'd do anything to protect the innocent." He sounded less than impressed with the Prime. His lack of care when it came to Optimus truly surprised Fera for a few heartbeats. They must have history between them. Yet, she still felt annoyed that Sol would blatantly throw a bitter comment at his own leader while being was in the same room as him.

If Optimus had heard Sol, he didn't let them know. He continued to stare down Kepler as the human did the same to him.

Secretary Kepler flared his nostrils in anger and then fixed his suit, yanking the cloth to get it better settled. The fight was won. And he was on the losing side. "Alright Optimus. The girl is in your possession. But," he raised a finger, "if she so much as _looks_ at a restricted area, she will be placed under arrest, understand?"

He then whipped around and stalked up the stairs without so much as a leaving word.

"Clearly," Optimus answered grimly as Kepler slammed the door behind him.

Suddenly, things did not feel like such an exciting adventure anymore.


	3. Chapter 3: Placing Trusts Pt 1

**Welp, I've started college...**

 **Wish me luck guys.**

* * *

Of The Spark And Heart

Part 1

Chapter 3 Pt. 1

Not long after Secretary Kepler left, everyone watched Optimus' back. Fera didn't know what to expect from the enormous leader, seeing his hands curl into fists and steam slowly hiss from the pipes on his back. After a heartbeat of silence following the slam of the door, Prime turned to the room and the gathered crowd went stock-still.

Without wasting any time, he looked to Solas and said, "You will be Fera's Guardian until further notice."

"What?" he shouted, starting Fera out of her skin.

She looked up at the black and red Autobot, shock being the only thing keeping her from feeling the anger she otherwise should have.

"You are the most capable, and it will do you well to see the planet from a human's perspective," Optimus replied, turning completely to face the group. Bumblebee, standing with a silent Ratchet in the corner, flinched from the hard tone in his Prime's voice.

"But Bee would be a better choice. He's already been a Guardian, why can't he do it again?" Sol went on, causing the small yellow 'Bot to perk up.

"You need the experience."

Bee's shoulders sagged in disappointment. Fera, seeing his face fall, walked over to him and set her hand on his arm. His mood seemed to pick up from the touch and he buzzed happily from the contact.

"I'm not a sparkling-sitter Prime, you know that," Sol continued helplessly. "I can't even be around our own kind's young ones let alone those of another race!" He was desperately trying to change his leader's mind, but it appeared useless. "Just be happy this one doesn't talk as much as Sam did." Ratchet piped in from the wall. It was his first time saying anything since coming into the room.

"Just be happy this one doesn't talk as much as Sam did," Ratchet piped in from the wall. It was his first time saying anything since coming into the room.

Sol looked to the medic, but quickly realized he was no help. Fera had a small hope in her chest that Prime would reconsider as well. She knew that she wouldn't get along very well with a personality such as Sol's. It was a miracle that she hadn't taken a wrench to his face already.

"Solas Kaon," Optimus began, using a more somber edge, "Fera holds an important role in our cause. None of our brethren have the credentials to serve the task as well as you will."

Ratchet pushed off the wall at this, simply walking out of the room before he was suddenly suggested for anything.

"Her father had also carried this responsibility until his termination. This is more than just a simple act of protection, it may very well mean the future of our race." Optimus motioned his hand towards Fera, a saddened twist to the plates of his face. Sol said nothing for a moment, opening and closing his hands over and over.

"Alright. I'll do it," he conceded softly.

As the Autobot caved beneath the order, Fera easily recognized the hate coating his words.

Optimus gave him a thankful nod and then he peered past Sol to Fera. "As I promised, there will be a time when we shall be able to meet. However, more pressing issues have my attention at the moment." He gave her a small grin, despite the tenseness of the past ten minutes. "Farewell." He briskly nodded towards her and turned to leave.

"Thank you for everything," she called after him.

Sol turned back to the teen and then he got low, his form quickly beginning to flip and rearrange. A dull series of screeching parts, hissing exhausts, and dislocating pieces sounded before the sleek form of Sol's black and red Mustang mode stood before Fera. The engine roared once and the lights flickered. The pure power beneath the hood was enough to impress Fera, despite the grouchy jerk behind it. The echoing vibrations traveling through her bones was enough to shake the breath from her lungs. Abruptly, the passenger-side door opened.

"Come on!" Sol called from the inside.

Fera sighed and patted Bee's arm. "This should be enjoyable," she said, voice soaked in bitter sarcasm. Yet, despite the dread of the long journey ahead, the amazement at what she had witnessed remained. She wouldn't be getting over the sight anytime soon. She wondered if her father or Epps ever had.

" _Let you ride...right in the passenger seat, baby_..." Bumblebee grumbled, causing Fera to grin and shake her head. "No, that's ok. I can deal." she left the disappointed Autobot behind and walked around the car to the open door. She climbed inside and purposefully let her damp hair free to drip down the leather seat. "You're such a

"No, that's ok. I can...deal with him. We don't have to talk."

She left the disappointed Bee behind and walked around the waiting car to the open door. She climbed inside and let her damp hair free to drip down the leather seat in pure spite. "You're such a gentleman," she noted in fake awe, settling back into the scarlet-seamed cushion.

" _Hey, I'm only following the orders of my Prime, I'm not here to be a gentleman_ ," Sol snapped over the radio. His engine revved again after the door beside Fera slammed closed. Her agitated sigh was lost in the sound of massive gears turning and locks being pulled aside. The iron door before them slowly started to move up and Sol clicked on his headlights. The yawning darkness was suddenly lit alight by two rows of small LED lights lining the bottom of the walls on either side. Sol honked once at Bee, and then they were off.

Fera leaned back into the seat and stared out the window, avoiding all eye contact with a steering wheel that moved all on its own. Soft music could be heard playing from the speakers, but she didn't pay it much attention. She was instead lost in the vast pool of her thoughts.

Questions over her mother's well-being drifted through her mind. She had called 911 before tearing after the Autobots in the rain, but did they come? The girl's body suddenly stilled, her blood running cold. To make matters worse, her wet, frigid hair sent drops of water soaking into her shirt, causing a violent shiver to wrack down her spine.

" _Your kind is so sensitive to temperature_ ," Sol noted, speeding up. Cars packed the highways, but he didn't seem to mind as he passed one vehicle after another.

"I swear, if you get us pulled over, I'm walking home," Fera threatened after a moment of quiet.

She could have sworn the 'Bot was considering taking her up on her offer. If not for Optimus' order, she was sure he would have.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Fera stabbed her eyes into the dashboard. A subtle, albeit healthy, fear in the back of her mind prompted her to speak before he could act on her threat. "It would probably help us stay under the radar if someone was _driving,_ " she noted harshly.

" _What do you suggest I do then?_ " Sol asked, obviously irritated at this point.

Dirty blonde hair was yanked over one shoulder and ice-blue eyes motioned beside her. "You need someone in the driver's seat. We're attracting negative attention with your stupid choice in cars as it is," she said.

Sol thought about that for a moment. " _What do you mean?_ " He slowed behind an elderly driver, a sharp honk coming from the Mustang.

"This is Missouri. If you can't look like a car from Missouri, at least get a driver in your seat."

There was no immediate response from the 'Bot, but he eventually complied. The radio buzzed and hummed as if Sol were searching for a station. Fera watched the device curiously.

"How about this?" he finally suggested, a flash appearing beside her. She jumped as a grid in the shape of a person appeared next to her, a wave of color and texture washing over the form.

It was a male, young, with short, dirty-blonde hair and tanned skin. He was in full uniform, with gloves on his hands and patches across his chest and arms. Fera couldn't help staring at the image in an emotion beyond shock. Nausea swept across her, paralyzing her. Her heart hammered against the cage of her ribs in an agonizing slam.

Throwing her arms around her waist, she tore her gaze away to stare at the carpeted floor.

"Turn that off," she said shakily.

The image flickered and then restored, looking over at the girl beside him. Fera flinched and leaned away from it. " _Is there something wrong with it?_ " Sol wondered.

"Yes, just..." she swallowed the rocks in her throat. "Just turn it off. Please." The image immediately flipped off and the girl was left alone once more. "Where did you get that?"

All the sarcasm and all the irritation was gone from Sol's demeanor the moment tears gathered at the edge of her eyes. Fera prayed that he wouldn't press things further. If he did, she was sure she'd have a mental breakdown. It wasn't every day that a girl got to see her dead father in the seat beside her.

Grinding her teeth, Fera blinked away the building rush of tears. Optimus was right: Solas needed help understanding people.

" _It was a picture on a wall back at the base_ ," Sol murmured. He took a moment to pause. " _Did you...know them?_ " It was a hesitant question.

Fera looked at the sky, breathing deep and slow. She then closed her eyes and gave a single nod.

"That was my father, William Lennox."

* * *

The silence was a welcome sound throughout the rest of the ride back to Fera's home. Sol found another, unknown soldier who usually roamed the base to be his hologram and nothing else was said on the matter. She was glad that he already had her address from the file Optimus gave him earlier, so she could instead focus on calming herself down. A few long hours later, the 'Bot silently pulled down a gravel road and crawled towards a lonely yellow house on the gentle swell of a hill.

When was the last time she'd seen her father that healthy?

" _Great_ ," Sol practically spat.

Fera, startled, turned her head to see police cruisers stationed at the edge of her front lawn. Their lights swept across the open land, sending a blinding fire to the complete darkness of the night. The girl leaned forward, looking over the yard to see two officers staring into a small notepad.

"Just park behind this one," she directed, pointing to the closest vehicle. Sol inched closer to the cruiser and came to a stop. The hologram snapped off and Fera crawled across the seat to climb out the driver-side door.

" _Fera_ ," Sol called just before she opened the handle. She looked down at the radio as it fell silent. " _I'm sorry about your father._ "

Fera took a moment to stare at the device before she gave a small, tired grin. "Thanks, Sol. That...means a lot." When she stepped from the car, she brushed her palm against the steering wheel. It was cold.

When she slammed the door closed, the officers in her yard both lifted their heads. She paused beside Sol, trying to appear confused and naive. One of the police flipped the cover of his notes closed, sighing. His comrade turned to walk inside the house, and Fera quickly hurried inside after him.

Almost immediately, she was embraced by her blubbering mother.

"Fera Rosalie Lennox, where in God's name have you been?!"

Her mother managed to pull strength from out of nowhere and gripped onto her daughter with enough force to steal the air from her body. Fera, choking, patted the woman's back to alert her. And even when she pulled back, she still refused to release Fera's shoulders. Mascara was left to streak her face in twin lines down her cheeks. Tissues littered the coffee table and the couch beside it.

"It is one o'clock in the morning, I was absolutely worried sick!"

Sarah Lennox sniffed and blotted her teary eye. The policemen in the home gathered themselves and quickly started for the door, getting words of appreciation from Fera's mother on their way out. They knew they had to escape before the drama began.

"Right now, I'm just glad you're safe, but God forbid you pull a stunt like that again," Sarah snapped while blotting her eyes with the tissue in her fist.

Fera swiftly brought her mother close for a comforting hug. "I'm so sorry mom," she whispered. "I won't do that again." And she meant every word. At least, she could try.

Soon enough, the girl was left to go to bed with a warning from her mother that she would be dealt with in the morning. The teen just nodded and pressed the front door closed before Sarah could see the Mustang in their yard. She then retreated to her bedroom. For the first time, she was glad they lived in a small country house outside the city. It was quiet, and most importantly, unseen to the wandering eye. A flashy black and red Mustang wouldn't be seen by anyone but the people who lived in the home. There would be explaining to do in the morning, though.

Sol was left to the night and Fera wondered if he would sleep. Could he?

Her hair was left out like spider-webs across her pillow while she stared at the ceiling. Moonlight filtered in through the thin white curtains that hung across the window to her left, blanketing her body. Her mind was weary and ready for rest, but her heart couldn't settle. Sol would be there in the morning. He had to be.

She repeatedly caught herself lifting the corner of the curtain to make sure that the 'Bot was still there. Every time he was in the same spot, and she was once again reassured that the day's events were anything but a dream.

While her father had been alive, her mother explained that he worked in the special forces unit of the army. Nothing more, nothing less. That was why it was so easy for Sarah to accept the sudden death of her husband. It didn't help much in the actual event, but it did put a label on his coffin. He would be known for dying while protecting his people and his country. It gave the family closure. But it still struck grief in their hearts. Sarah Lennox viewed her husband as a hero - someone who'd made the ultimate sacrifice.

She was right about him being a hero. But she couldn't have been kept further from the full truth.

Unable to hold it off anymore, Fera let her eyes close. It was a welcomed relief: that darkness. Finally, she could process her adventure so far.

First, she had met massive, emotion-capable robots. Then, they had taken her to their leader, who was probably the most awe-inspiring sight she'd ever seen. And not only that, but her father and Robert had been involved with them for a good amount of her life. There was so little she knew about them, and she couldn't wait to ask. In fact, all she had to do was stand and lean out her window to talk, but her body refused to move.

Definitely in the morning, then.

It was almost impossible for sleep to fully overcome Fera, but when it did, she couldn't stop the crushing darkness that enveloped her body. She saw images flash by, some clear, some not. She knew that her father had come up a lot. He often did. But, there were also the faces of people she'd never seen before.

And then the ever-recurring scene of her father placing one of his most precious possessions upon her snuck its way to the forefront of her mind.

* * *

 _He was laying in the medical bed, amidst crisp, white sheets. Fera had once lain beside her father in them, feeling their itchy fabric and hating their touch. She didn't know how he could stand it. The large, beeping machines flanking him repeatedly chimed with a soft ring every so often. A mask was placed over his face, with the tube connected to a cylindrical device and pump. There were more wires and tubes slunk under his blanket, but he always refused to let Fera see where they led. He had swelling in his skull, a piece of the bone removed to allow room in the space. An IV was set up into the back of his hand and in his neck, running clear fluid. He was still conscious, but barely. Liquid was also building up in his lungs, making it difficult to talk or breath. She would later find out that this mess of medical-ware was the only thing that kept her father alive so long._

 _The doctors couldn't figure out how he had gotten so sick so fast. And learning where it all had come from would be equally as impossible._

 _Fera had sat at his side, watching her father steadily while her mother took a well-deserved nap in the corner of the padded guests' bench. When his weak voice spoke up, calling his daughter forward, she came, and took up his offered hand without hesitation._

 _"Fera, you're so big now..." he whispered. "I'm so...proud of you." He gave a loud cough, violently wracking his body. She jumped, startled, but she soon returned her concerned still._

 _"You know I'm sick, and that I'm not coming home..." he trailed off again and grimaced. Fear gripped her heart at that moment, thrashing her down the middle. Pain was clear on her father's face, yet he forced himself on. He lifted a hand and slipped the mask from his face, holding it up as he reached to his neck and unclipped the chain hanging there. Fera fought the urge to put the mask back on him, as she'd seen her mother do countless times._

 _"Take this. Don't let anyone have it," he commanded as firmly as he could._ _He then let the mask back on and gently, weakly pressed the charm into Fera's open palm. She closed her fingers around it and brought it closer to study._

 _The near-black stone entranced her. It looked like two pyramids had been fused together by the bases, leaving two very sharp edges on either side. The core was the very darkest of it. When she shifted the charm between her fingers, she watched as smoke danced within the glassy prism. It was incredibly beautiful and mysterious. And this was the first time she'd seen her father ever take it off._

 _"My comrades are depending on you now, Fairy. They will greatly appreciate what you're doing," Will went on, patting her hand. Fera looked up to see her father's smiling face and tears gathered in her eyes. They ran down her cheeks, hot and heavy._

 _So little time._

 _So little time..._

* * *

A bright light flashed in Fera's eyes, and she squeezed them tightly closed. The image of her ailing father melted away and she forced open her crusted lids. They were sore and heavy, begging her to return to rest. But the light wouldn't let her sleep, blazing with white vividness. She lifted an arm to blot out the gleam and pushed herself up. It was coming from her window, the curtains doing nothing to block it. She groaned and moved to throw back the thin fabric. It was Solas, sitting outside her window, his headlights ablaze. She unlatched her window and swung open the glass, leaning on the frame.

"Are you mentally insane?!" she hissed venomously. Her mother was surely still sleeping, and would be for another hour if the alarm clock on her nightstand was accurate. Sol's headlights flicked off and Fera rubbed at the dots dancing in her vision.

" _My CPU is fine_ ," he said, confused.

Before she could stop herself, the girl gave a loud moan and then quickly clapped a hand over her mouth.

Sol opened the passenger-side door. " _Something happened back at base. They need me_ ," he answered.

Fera stood up from the windowsill and furrowed her brow. "Why do you need me to go?"

" _I'm your Guardian. Wherever I go, you go._ " He waved the open door and revved his engine.

"Fine, just wait there. And be quiet," she relented, snapping the curtain shut.

She pivoted on her heels and hurried to pull off the clothes she'd worn the night before. She then grabbed a clean shirt from her closet and pulled on some fresh jeans from the drawer. She yanked her hair into a ponytail, moving on to slip on her tennis shoes. She ran into the kitchen and started on a short note to leave for her mother when she left. The pen flew from her hand and the words: _Went hiking with friends - be back soon,_ sat on the tabletop.

She then grabbed a small bagel from the counter and threw together some simple makeup. She felt like she couldn't move quick enough, nearly tripping over her own feet as she jogged outside, all the while tugging on a navy-blue jacket. Head ducking, she slipped into the leather seats of Sol's interior and shut the door. The bagel hanging out of her mouth jumped as Sol's wheels started moving in less than a few seconds.

" _What took you so long?_ " he demanded over the radio. " _And what is that on your optics?_ " he moved over the uneven ground of the front lawn towards the road before them. His wheels jumped a few more times before they met smoother terrain.

"My eyes? It's called makeup and most the teenagers in the world use it," she said, swallowing a bite of her breakfast. "And maybe if you'd given me a few more hours of rest, I'd be out earlier."

" _You were tossing and turning all night. You've been awake for hours_ ," he noted.

Fera stopped her chewing. "How...what-"

" _Every Autobot is equipped with heat-sensor technology_." He sped up to pull around a few slow cars. " _I decided to look in the house after I heard you talking in your sleep_."

A dull-grey gloom blanketed the skies as the morning sun peeked over the horizon. It read six forty-five on Sol's dash and Fera sank into the seat. She knew she talked in her sleep - her mother had told her as much - however, thinking that this...alien spied on her in the night made her body tense.

"Moving on," she began, crossing her arms over her chest, "what is it that you're needed for back at the base?"

Sol's hologram looked at her and then back to the road, no emotion visible on its face.

" _A Cybertronian is approaching the base. We're hoping it is one of us, particularly a Prime_." He trailed off uncertainly and his hologram flickered before returning.

"There's more than one Prime?"

" _There are two_ ," he confirmed. " _One is Optimus and the other is Rethalia Prime_."

Fera fell quiet at this, not completely sure about his somber tone. "Who is she?"

Sol became silent for a few moments, the space in the cabin too quiet for her liking. " _Don't worry about it, you'll learn soon enough_."

They said they would tell her anything, but they wouldn't tell her this. The teen sat back with a snort of frustration.

" _On Cybertron, a Prime would be decided by an ancient group of Cybertronians known as the Council. They held the entire wisdom of the lineage of the Primes and all there is to know of Cybertron from the records. The only others knowing more than they would be Primus himself_ ," he told her, changing the subject. When his passenger did not comment, he went on. " _Now, Cybertron is ruled by the Prime, who is selected by the Council. Only when that Prime dies, or can no longer serve, is the next named_."

The tone in the bot's voice was interesting to Fera. He seemed to like explaining his culture to her. Despite the annoying car ride so far, she was amused. "What about the Council? How were they made?" she wondered, watching the device curiously. The hologram Sol permitted just creeped her out, so she would just speak to the small broadcaster.

" _No one really knows. They were the first of our race - almost as old as the Thirteen - and they were tasked to protect our planet. Obviously, they failed."_

The car grew gravely quiet and Sol rumbled onward.

"What about the children on your planet? How long would it take them to grow into a Cybertronian?"

" _We have a different series of units used as time, but a close estimate would be around 400 of your years._ " The hologram beside Fera sat with its hands on the wheel, not blinking or moving an inch. And before she could ask, Solas cut in. " _Sparklings can be made in different ways, but the most traditional is the fusion of sparks._ "

Fusion of sparks? She'd never been more confused. "Can the males on your planet carry a sparkling?"

Sol snorted over the radio and Fera's eyebrows came down. "What?" she demanded.

" _Cybertronians are not male and female. We do not separate our classes like humanity does. I am a mech. Rethalia is a femme_."

"Does that mean that you don't even have genders?"

" _Almost. Our femmes have the ability to produce offspring like females do, but they cannot do the same things. They do not nourish their young like human women, and they possess the capability to remove their young from their hold as the sparkling develops,_ " Sol said. " _A mech like myself can also hold the sparkling, but we cannot offer it nourishment_."

Fera looked to the radio for a moment before glancing over at the hologram. "Do you have a...mate?" she inquired in a soft tone. Solas was mute, his lack of words sucking the warmth from the car. Very quickly, Fera realized she made a mistake.

"If it's a sensitive subject-"

" _No, I don't._ " His voice was flat, leaving no room for further conversation.

The tension in the air around her could have been sliced with a knife. This was the moment that she wanted to launch herself out of the car. She hated feeling his silence crawl over her skin as a thousand tiny ants. She tried to focus her eyes out the window and watch the rising rays. Sol fit in with the other cars without speeding or honking. The time read seven fifteen: barely thirty minutes into their drive.

Three-and-a-half hours to go.

Slowly, Fera felt her eyelids growing heavy once more. The limited sleep she had gotten was wearing on her, and she was running on nothing but adrenaline. Her head tipped back and her eyes batted a few more times before she sighed and they closed completely. Tranquility came from the silence, salving her weary mind. For once, she didn't dream of her father. It wasn't even her encounter yesterday that she reminisced on.

She dreamt of Solas Kaon.

* * *

Sol's mirror looked down at the female and it stayed there, reflecting the image of pure exhaustion. A mask of serenity laid over her face, softening her features.

No matter the situation, it was actually nice to have the company of the human female. She asked a lot of questions, yes, but Sol almost didn't mind. He would answer what needed answering, and nothing more. The question of his status on a sparkmate had momentarily taken him by surprise, but he responded anyway. It needed to be answered. Fera seemed like the type to go to someone else for the truth if he didn't offer them himself. But somehow, she seemed to sense his apprehension, and she stopped talking altogether. The silence was welcomed.

Fera suddenly shifted, moving her knees on top of the seat. Sol immediately closed the files Optimus had given him on the girl and looked at her through the mirror. He felt a swell of amusement when she mumbled a few incoherent words before again falling under. Maybe this was the 'dreams' he read about while coming to Earth.

He thought about asking her what a dream really was. It interested him to think that humans could be capable of such capabilities. Briefly, he wished to know what it was that one experienced in a dream.

His attention was abruptly drawn to Fera's neck, the small, thin rope of metal around her jugular firmly connected to a small black stone. Studying it further, his circuitry flashed through all of his files and records in possible connection with it. He found nothing.

Confused, he scanned it over and over. Again, nothing came up. He finally left it alone, forcing himself to not worry about it. It stayed in the back of his thoughts though, pushed aside so he could focus on the matters ahead.

Optimus Prime and the others had been prepared to head back to the main base in Washington D.C before Fera appeared. Now they would have to wait for clearance and patiently stall for the incoming arrival.

If they were lucky, it would be a fellow Autobot. If not, they would be faced with the discovery of one of the facilities that housed them. Of course, the effectiveness of the humans' security was fairly primitive compared to that of Cybertronian methods. However, Wheeljack and Optimus himself had added in their points to improve the surveillance. Now, each base was reinforced by Cybertronian technology, making it harder to find their positions by the Decepticons. And it was that much more important to hide the information inside each base, for inside were the coordinates of each base of operations on the northern American continent.

Solas couldn't help putting his trust into his comrades, but with the added element of the new human female, things would be getting much more complicated.

The yellow star, the Sun, rose steadily over the distant land, entrancing him with the sight. Cybertron once had a sun, but it had been knocked out of orbit, casting them into a much darker stretch of history. It was truly a beautiful sight, one that the 'Bot captured and stored deep into his CPU for remembrance later on.

The rolling hills of the country, as well as the small groups of creatures that Sol passed, had captured his interest, and he soon found out the names of the different species. Cows, horses, chickens, and even a few dogs appeared before the flattened ground of civilization came under-wheel.

 _Halfway there_ , he thought.

There should be a faster way to travel from the base to Fera's home than this. There must be. All this driving was making Sol stiff. He rumbled the engine to loosen up the joints.

This noise seemed to rattle the female passenger in his cabin, for he caught a shift of movement from her. Fera's optics shone from behind her lids, the bright blue color eerily familiar to that of an Autobot's. She was oddly pale, despite the tanner shade her male creator had bore.

Her optics opened wider and her pupils flicked over to the broadcasting device she called a radio. "Are we there?" she asked in a sluggish tone.

Sol moved the rearview mirror so that it no longer reflected her image. " _No. You should continue to recharge_ ," he suggested.

"I think I'm good. That nap really helped me though, thank you for that." She lifted a hand and pushed it into her optic, rubbing it. She moved her legs so that they sat back on the floor, then scanned the road.

" _Fera? There was something I'd like to ask you_ ," he began, catching her attention.

"Yes? What is it?"

Sol searched through the file again and picked out the tidbits of information he would need. " _What exactly can you tell me about dreams?_ " he asked.

Fera shifted and placed her hands back into the folds of her clothing. "Well, it depends. Some people dream about dead relatives or memories. Other times though, people have dreams of little creatures or stories they create in their imagination."

He didn't respond at first, taking the time to absorb each word she said. Little did she know, he had documented every moment of his time on Earth so far.

"Can we stop? I kinda have to pee," she questioned quite abruptly.

" _Pee?_ " he wondered. He heard the female sigh and he became confused.

"Urinate. The bodily process of releasing liquid waste. Sound familiar?"

So _that_ was what she meant.

Sol drove through the small county town before moving through a gas station. " _I'll wait here_ ," he said.

Fera nodded and climbed out of the cabin, walking inside the building. Sol kept up the hologram of his false driver and let his engine run as he moved across the street and stopped on the curb of a nearby sidewalk.

 **~ _Ratchet to Solas Kaon, what is your status?_ ~** the medic hailed abruptly, a slightly irritated edge to his voice.

 _ **~It's so nice to hear you too Ratchet, good morn,~**_ Sol returned sarcastically.

Ratchet huffed, obviously agitated.

 ** _~Where is the human girl?~_**

Sol let his attention move to the door of the building and found no one exiting yet. **_~She's with me. We are little over halfway to base at the moment.~_**

 _ **~Good, have you encountered any trouble?~**_ Ratchet questioned next.

At that moment, Fera came from the inside of the station and started towards him. **_~No, there has been no Decepticon activity...~_**

He trailed off as another human, a male, taller than Fera, came from the building the same time she did. Obviously, he'd been standing in the shadows, for Solas hadn't noticed him at first. His long, greasy hair hung low over his eyes, and his hands were shoved deep in his pockets. His cheeks were hollow - his eyes sunken. He stepped off the raised edge of the curb and quickened his pace.

 _ **~Sol? Finish your report,~**_ Ratchet ordered. _ **~Sol?~**_

Sol watched the scene as the man stalking across the lot got ever closer to Fera. His eyes said it all, the hard expression on his face unmistakable. It was the same face that the Autobot warriors had worn before each battle - the knowledge that death may take them like acid rust in the back of their thoughts.

No.

Not again.

Sol's wheels screamed across the blacktop, rushing towards the gas station parking lot. The male suddenly grabbed Fera and drug her back into the shadows, her startled scream piercing the air.

No, no, no.

Those warriors had suffered for things they choose to suffer for. Fera was as innocent as the sparklings that hung off their creators' frames. The man wrapped his thin arms around Fera in an attempt to strangle her cries.

Why couldn't he move fast enough?

Suddenly, she saw him. Her eyes were full of terror, but there was something more. Rage bubbled up in place of horror.

The moment Sol's wheels touched the parking lot, Fera broke one arm free, using it to plunge her elbow into the male's abdomen. She managed to get back her other arm, and she shoved herself away as hard as she could. Sol sped up, throwing himself between them. The stranger stumbled back, staring in shock. Sol's door opened, allowing Fera to leap inside.

" _Are you alright?_ " he demanded, seeing the angered grimace on her face. She nodded and he turned his attention back to the male. The 'Bot backed up, sharply turning his hood toward him. He thought about transforming there, but Fera would be injured in the process.

So instead, he let two blades shift from his headlights, nearly slicing off the man's legs.

Sol revved the engine twice, threatening him with the deep, throaty roar. The male's eyes grew wide at the sight of the blades, and he immediately turned tail and fled.

Sol retracted the weapons and, with wheels squealing, he spun around to face the road. The shifting gears inside of his body clicked and he tore forward, throwing Fera's body back against the seat. He bounced, cars swerving around him as he sped out of the lot. Rubber met blacktop and he swerved down the highway in their original direction. Fera was holding her midsection, her eyes closed off. Her teeth were gritted tight.

Solas cut all communications with his comrades, sending a message instead that immediate medical assistance was to be needed on arrival.

" _Fera_..." he began, causing her light-blue optics to show.

"I'm ok," she murmured, tears running down her face.

" _Fera, you_ -"

"I said I was fine!" She immediately grimaced again and bent over Sol's steering wheel. There was no doubt that she was anything but ok.

He was disturbed by what he just saw. He knew the humans were primitive - that they craved war and violence. He knew they became different creatures when they were desperate. However, he never thought he'd see _that_. He had believed that this planet, at least when it came to protecting its young, was better than his.

As soon as they reached base, Fera was going to the medic.

And Solas would be having a word with Optimus Prime over this arrangement.


	4. Chapter 4: Placing Trusts Pt 2

**Finals went well,**

 **now I'm just looking forward to Christmas :)**

 **Happy holidays, all!**

* * *

Of The Spark And Heart

Part 1

Chapter 4 (Chapter 3 pt. 2)

It wasn't long when Sol's wheels touched government ground. He would repeatedly look back at Fera, checking that she wasn't unconscious. She kept an arm over her middle for the entire time from the gas station to the base, her forehead laid atop the wheel. Trying to move fast, Solas darted through the park and to the small grove of trees that sat in the center of it.

The side of the boulder that hid the entrance to the base opened up, and two sliding metal doors lifted, allowing Sol to speed down the dim halls. The lights couldn't keep up with his pace, flashing on after he was already five ahead. He came to the main entrance and skidded to a stop, cutting a turn with a squeal of his tires. Soldiers in the room looked at him with shock and surprise, while others instinctively went for their guns. Sol threw open his door and Fera glanced up, looking weakly to the exit. When she sat up, Sol saw the crimson blotch growing over her stomach. It struck him that it was blood, the energon of mankind.

Fera leaned out of the car, barely getting her legs up over the side. She slipped out, a soft moan escaping her lips. Her body fell in a heap to the ground outside of Sol's cabin, her arm still clutching her stomach. Sol quickly entered the command of his form code into his processor and his body began to shift and change. He soon stood in his bipedal mode, his body bent over Fera as he hovered his digits over her weak body. Suddenly, Solas' servos closed and he snapped his helm up at the stunned men around them.

"Get the medic!" he boomed, shocked that trained soldiers were standing there like frightened cyberdats.

- _A cyberdat is a small creature, particularly found in the waste systems of Cybertron, or chewing on the piles of scrap in the heapyards. On earth, a comparison to these would be a sewer rat._ -

Soldiers that had faster instincts were the first to run out of the room, leaving the other, slower men to face the confused and frustrated Autobot. It all made no sense. What did they not understand about "get help"?

"What in the name of Primus is going on in here?"

Sol turned towards the voice and he found Ratchet leisurely pacing into the room. Almost immediately, the medical officer found Fera laying helpless on the floor. He jumped into action, striding quickly towards them and dropping low to reach the female.

"Slag Sol, you've been protecting her for one day! What happened?" he demanded as he assessed her injury.

Sol grabbed his helm, staring down at her. He stood straighter and felt panic bubbling in his tank. "She's been attacked by one of her own kind, it was absolutely sickening, Ratchet. I didn't know humans were so fragile!" he exclaimed. "I told Optimus I wasn't ready for this! I told him, but he wouldn't listen!"

To make matters worse, the worry-stricken female medic of the facility now came rushing into the room with some of her comrades. Ratchet backed off but kept a close distance in case he was needed. Taking a moment to glance at Solas, he said, "You had _one_ job. Hopefully, this will make you take things a little more seriously."

Sol groaned and whipped around, putting his back to the medics. "Miss Lennox, we're here to help you. Can you understand me?" the small, high voice of the female medic asked. Sol paused, letting his faceplates move to aim his audio receptors over his shoulder. There was no response. "Can you tell me what happened to you?" she went on.

This time, Sol turned, and he found Fera lain on her back. The doctor then moved the girl's hand from her side, revealing the growing red stain on her shirt. Guilt drowned the thoughts in Sol's mind when he saw the young one suffering.

This wasn't what he was trained to do. He wasn't careful or graceful or experienced. He was a warrior. There was nothing stopping him from making the mistake of crushing the youngling beneath his step. An unusual pulse echoed in his spark and Solas clenched his fists tightly at his sides.

The doctors around Fera were now placing her on a padded cart, their voices mingling in a frenzy of questions and commands. Soon enough their retreating steps hurried her down a separate, smaller hall towards the human medical facility.

"What happened to her?" Ratchet started again, breaking the silence. There was an edge to his tone that Sol believed was blame.

His frustrations finally building, Sol threw his arms into the air. "Like I said, she was attacked. I couldn't do anything about it." He began to pace the room and he kept his teal optics low.

"You are her protector now, Solas," Ratchet rumbled, catching the Bot's moving glance. "She won't survive if you keep being so reckless."

"I didn't sign up for this, Ratchet." The black mech stopped pacing, his digits opening and closing. "Maybe now Prime will realize that I'm no Guardian."

"That isn't how he will see it. Humans are cruel, insane creatures that do things for reasons we don't understand," Ratchet went on, coming closer. "Fera is alive. Hurt, but alive. Optimus will tell you this is a learning experience." He lifted a servo to place on Sol's shoulder, but his comrade jerked away. Ratchet's digits stayed hovering there for a few sparkbeats before he dropped them.

"This is wrong. Optimus was wrong. I'm no Guardian. I never was," Sol murmured softly. Things weren't how they were supposed to be. After this, Optimus had to realize that he had made the wrong choice. Protecting Fera should have been Bumblebee's job from the beginning. She would be safer with him.

So before the know-it-all medic could say anything else, Sol turned on his peds and stormed out of the room. Down the hall he went, on a mission to face his peer. His loud steps echoed down the boring stone walls and he snorted at them, caught up in his temper. Soldiers and others roaming the halls were smart enough to move out of his way when he came. Anything to keep his mind off his mistake. His legs moved him quickly down the right and then the left of the path, his digits clenched the entire time.

The large metal doors of Prime's office spread out before him, and he was swift to pound his fist on the surface. An Autobot symbol over the doors split in half and the room inside unveiled. It was a spacious area, consisting of all concrete walls and floors with both human and Cybertronian technology lining the perimeter. There was a long, L-shaped desk attached to the center of the floor, holding a hologram projector and a haphazardous pile of electronic compads. Optimus was standing beside it, his back to the door. He was holding his elbow with one servo, and his chin with the other. A hologram of the Missouri area projected before him, the blinking lights of the Autobots and the arriving newcomer flashing.

Optimus turned towards the sound of Sol entering. His optics widened in surprise and interest. "Solas Kaon," he said. "Is something the matter?"

Solas stood with his legs spread wide at the doorframe, his shoulders hunched in anger. "I warned you I wasn't ready for this," he growled lowly.

It would have been so easy to blame Optimus for even putting him in charge of Fera in the first place, but Sol knew he was the only true one at fault. It had been his lack of responsibility that let him get so relaxed with her protection. He shouldn't have parked so far away. Even then, however, he couldn't help the sparkling-like grudge he held for his leader.

Optimus' arms fell from his chassis, his body turning towards Sol. "I don't understand," he said bewilderedly.

Sol came right up to the Prime, anger broiling within him, and looked directly into his optics. "Fera was attacked today, and I couldn't get there in time to keep her safe." He spoke blandly, with raging storms brewing in his chassis.

Optimus' faceplates fell to a stony mask. "Is she alive?" he asked flatly.

Sol moved away, unable to hold that gaze. It was just so...calm and even. He couldn't comprehend how the Prime wasn't as riled up as he was. Then again, this mech had led thousands through planet-tearing war for countless millenia.

"She's alive," he confirmed. "But I don't know how bad it is. The medics took her away." Sol walked the room to the large chair that Prime had pushed aside. He lifted his digits and set them on the back, his other servo on his hip.

His CPU was overloading with all the information his body was throwing at him. He'd failed at his job of Guardian, and now this innocent human girl was about to suffer for his clumsiness. He didn't know if he could hold something like this against his leader. He wondered if the others blamed him for the mishap as well. It wouldn't be surprising, considering Solas' past with the Autobot cause. They must have known the same fact as him: that Fera had been doomed the instant Optimus put the newest Autobot arrival on Earth in charge of her. There was no doubt he knew _something_ would happen, he could feel it coming. Just not so...soon.

The human was better off with Bee, not a rookie who could crush her if he transformed in the middle of one of his emotional fits.

"All that matters is that she is _alive_ Solas. If you had not acted as quickly as you did, that may have been a different story," Optimus assured. A soft snort left Sol at hearing an eerily similar echo of Ratchet's prediction. He knew the Prime well.

The Autobot Leader could be heard as he approached Sol, then laid a servo on his shoulder. "Perhaps it is time I explain why I have you protecting her," he suggested.

Sol turned, dislodging Optimus' touch. "Yes, that would be a start," he agreed curtly.

Optimus turned back to face his hologram once more and Sol noticed that the blinking signal was coming closer, almost a mile out of the base limits. A small device on Optimus' bracer went off, a shrill beep splitting the quiet. Optimus lifted a digit and clicked it off. His features fell to stone, and his palm laid flat on the screen. "They are in the city," he noted in a hard voice.

There was plenty of speculation across the base as to who the newcomer could be. Of course, hope was that it would be the Prime, Rethalia, come to join her sparkmate on Earth. However, there was a very real possibility that it could be a Decepticon. They had to be ready for anything, whether it be friend, foe, or a Cybertronian seeking asylum.

"Four million years ago, when the _Cosmos_ crash-landed into Earth, it carried hundreds of files from the Hall of Records in Iacon," Optimus went on. "In the crash vault, was a stationary spark essence." He turned to Sol, who said nothing. He didn't think he was liking where this was going. "In that essence, was a chemical makeup capable of biological manipulation and adaptation. Over time, the crash vault malfunctioned and lost power, leaving its contents to be buried in the mountain. Eventually, it was discovered by human archaeologists." He moved towards a compad on his desk and he picked it up, pressing a few keys before handing it to Sol.

"All it says is that the artifact in the mountain had been sent to a lab and would be studied in full," he found, looking up.

Optimus nodded, picking up another pad. "Yes, however the 'artifact' of the mountain was placed under government control after it was determined to be alien in nature. The tools they used to study it were unable to decipher exactly what the object was, so they resulted in locking it away. When my comrades and I allied with them, we were granted ownership of it."

Sol scanned over the information on the pad, slowly scrolling away at the pages. "Why would they give it back if they didn't understand what we would do with it?"

"We had agreed to ally ourselves with them so long as we reposessed any Cybertronian technology in their possession. Under our grounds, they agreed. Though, they did not have much choice when it came to protecting their planet against the Decepticons." Optimus waited for Sol to place the compads back on the desktop. The mech's faceplates were twisted in confusion.

"And your point of all this is?" he urged, trying to finally understand. "What has this to do with Fera?"

Optimus looked over at a screen by the wall and Solas followed his direction. "The device they returned was a Stone of Primus," he said simply.

All of Solas' past anger, frustration, and petty blame melted away. He stared at the screen, his optics widening.

Optimus strode toward where a collection of files had been pulled up. Sol, shocked into a haze, numbly followed his leader. Across the screen was all the information attained about the Stone. There was little to read, since no one understood much about it besides its mythology. Legend had it that the Stones were pieces of Primus' own spark, used to begin the race of the Cybertronians. Primus was unable to defeat his ancient brother, Unicron, in their endless battle of peaceful light and chaotic darkness, and so he began a race of immortal warriors who could help him in defending the new, fragile life beginning to develop on his surface. Unicron waged a horric and gruesome war that lasted generations. Eventually, according to the Hall of Records, he was imprisoned inside another dimension by the original Thirteen, where he would stay for eternity in an endless loop of time.

Following the war, the first Council was created to lead the civilization growing on Cybertron. Each of the original Council, however, fell one by one, slowly destroyed over insolent fighting and arguing over control. Eventually, the modern Council was formed. They see everything now as being from and connected to the AllSpark. The Stones of Primus, on the other hand, were of equal value to the Spark itself, being the only other way to revive life or create it without the need of two sparkmated Cybertronians, or the AllSpark. However, ever since the beginning of the Cybertronian race, none had even come close to finding out how to control or even activate the power. Its tales of influence slowly faded to myth before anyone could truly witness its capabilities.

Sol had been involved with maintaining the Hall every so often before and after he had become an Autobot. A few times, during his studies, mention of the Stones would come up. But it would be dismissed as soon as it appeared, and was left to jokes and tall-tales.

Now, it was known that it was no legend.

The wars must have led the lasting Autobots to bring the hidden artifact to Earth in an attempt at keeping it safe. Somehow, the Lennox family must have gotten it. Sol wondered why until the truth hit him: Humans were nothing to the Decepticons, just bothersome bugs that were usually ignored - perfect for hiding one of Cybertron's greatest secrets.

"The Stone was given to Captain William Lennox, and then bestowed upon his daughter, Fera," Optimus explained. "The Decepticons still have no knowledge of the Stone's location here on Earth, or that it has been discovered. And we plan on protecting that fact." His helm turned to the smaller mech beside him, whose full focus was on the images passing before him. Sol pressed another key on the dashboard and other files sped past. Not much more information was given.

"Fera has no knowledge of this?" Sol inquired slowly. There was a shaking of the leader's helm and Sol stood straight back from the array of command keys. "That is why you chose me, because I knew about the Stone."

Optimus nodded slowly. "And because of your experience in the field of battle. You may not be the most careful of us, but I knew you would understand the situation better than any. A human involved in this kind of situation couldn't be handled by Bumblebee. He is far too young and he knows nothing of the Stones of Primus, or their significance."

Sol could only stand there in silence. It was now clear why Optimus did what he did, but there was still more questions to be answered - more room for debate and understanding. But there was no time. Not while Fera fought for her life on the other side of the base. She had a responsibility far beyond her. Her actions - her decisions from now on - could mean the end to an entire race. It made him want to lock her away in a giant metal box.

The future of his race...

He didn't understand the true importance of everything. The femmes were too far and in-between to go to for sparklings. The time needed for the creation of one would also be difficult with the war still in effect. It was too dangerous.

Fera's safety equaled the survival of his race. Simple as that.

At that moment, the door behind Sol slid open and both he and Prime turned towards the entrance. The silver body of Sideswipe took up the doorway, both servos locked onto the frame. His cooling vents were at full capacity, their whirring, humming sound resonating throughout the room.

"Optimus!" he exclaimed, word labored. He let go of the doorframe and hurried inside. "It's the newcomer...it's an Autobot..." he paused, trying to allow his vents to catch up.

Unable to get out what needed to be said, he gestured the two occupants of the room to follow him. Optimus and Sol started forward without a word, rushing down the halls. Humans all around them were in a flustered craze, running in all directions in preparation for what was to come. They already knew what could go wrong.

Sideswipe was first to reach the lobby, with Sol following behind, and Optimus appearing last. The other Autobots of the base were already gathered, standing around the form of a sleek, black and pink vehicle at the mouth of the tunnel. The words _'Citroen Survolt'_ marked the rim at the base of its back right wheel.

The car had led a blotted line of glowing blue energon in its wake, signifying it was indeed Cybertronian. Those surrounding it already had their weapons pulled, waiting for sabotage, or worse. Human soldiers lined the catwalks and floor between the Cybertronians, their own guns out and aimed. Optimus joined his comrades in the crowd and looked down upon the arrival. The familiar sounds of a conversion shaft met the audio receptors of Solas and the Survolt started to take shape. He narrowed his optics in an attempt to recognize the figure as two peds slammed down to stand. They finalized their reformation, their plates settling into place, and a black and pink helmet shifting up and over the new set of faceplates.

It was a femme, the reproducers of the Cybertronian race. Sol was shocked, not expecting such a rare sight to meet him. She was tall, and lithe, with capped shoulders and armor that was a complex, but captivating, puzzle. Her optics were a blazing cerulean that could put the skies of Earth to shame. The fuchsia detailing on her paint was subtle, leaving her with an intense, onyx presence. Between the lights on her chassis was the Autobot symbol, held proudly front and center. She was by far one of the most intimidating yet beautiful Cybertronians he had ever seen.

There was a deep, wide slash in her abdominal area, gushing energon from behind the arm she pressed against it. Her back slowly slouched, body drained from the terrible wound. Optimus slipped through the crowd around him, coming to the ailing femme before anyone could react. She noticed him and relief swept over her features. However, she came forward only to fall into his arms, her weakness clear.

"Rethalia?"

Rethalia.

Rethalia Prime.

Optimus Prime's sparkmate.

Rethalia desperately clung to her sparkmate, forcing herself to look up into his optics. "We were attacked...while on the _Hope_..."

She paused as the joint in her elbow sparked, causing her to nearly lose her grip. Her cooling systems were wheezing at the damage that it had taken, and fought to keep up with her body. Her armor was full of scratches and dents, obviously fresh from a recent battle. "They're gone...all of them." Horror poisoned her tone and she made a soft sobbing sound into Optimus' chassis. "Metallooper, Boltstreak, Windripper, all of them..." She shuddered and her optics flicked on and off. Optimus held firm to the failing femme and lifted her into his arms, not showing any sign of strain from the weight.

"Ratchet, get the medbay ready immediately!" he bellowed. The room was caught in shocked silence, still and detached from the events taking place before them.

Ratchet, however, was already on the move, separating the group of Autobots to allow Prime and his sparkmate through. Rethalia's slender digits clamped tight to Optimus' form, her weakened state almost making her unconscious. Her vivid optics were now dimmer, flickering on the verge of shutdown. She obviously couldn't speak, from the way her words came out as barely more than a whisper.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be restoration, or worse, a full wipe.

Sol turned towards his retreating peers and he quickly followed close behind, not hesitating when Ratchet opened the medbay doors and led Optimus inside. Sol slipped through, watching as Optimus gently laid his sparkmate across the flat observation platform. The large mech drew back, panicked concern overtaking every part of him.

Ratchet grabbed his toolcart and went straight to work, opening her bracer and sticking in an IV of freshly supplied energon into one of the main lines. Sol leaned back on the wall, beyond belief and partially numb. He had heard of this femme around the base, but he had never seen her. Most of the talk was news from those who had just come from Cybertron, who worked with Elita One. Any information was far and in-between, and the last any 'Bot had heard of her was that she took Optimus' place as Prime when he died over fourteen Earth years ago.

"I should have felt her coming," Optimus rumbled in dismay, shifting on his peds anxiously. "I should have felt her get hurt."

"It's been so long since you've been together and refreshed the bond - it's not a surprise that you didn't feel her," Ratchet grunted. "Now stop moving around so much, you're distracting me."

Optimus was clearly in shock, opening and clenching his servos while he watched the medic. The pipes on his back hissed with short, quick puffs of steam. A nervous humming took up his chest. Solas' optics switched between mech and femme, not sure where his attention should be. Seeing Optimus so worked up was terrifying.

Rethalia's chassis was then clipped open, Ratchet's optics scanning the damaged interior. He swiftly fixed the few wires and parts he could at the moment, then moved to her wounded midsection. He removed the half that appeared most damaged and then snapped open the other to begin patching.

He froze cold.

Both Optimus and Sol looked up at Ratchet's expression, uncertain yet worried all the same. "Primus..." Ratchet whispered. Optimus instantly came forward and Rethalia reached out, grabbing his servo in hers. As the Prime looked down on his sparkmate, Sol craned his neck to get a better look.

"Optimus, there's a sparkling here," Ratchet said.

The large mech nearly fell on his aft, the wall being the only thing that supported him. His optics were wide and his arm was limp. One of his servos were still locked in Rethalia's grasp as she refused to let him go. She didn't react the same way as her bonded, instead, there was a solid determination in her expression.

"Whatever you do, I want you to save her. If it comes down to it, save her," she said in a voice far stronger than she appeared.

Ratchet just stood for a few moments, stunned beyond belief. His face went to Optimus, whose gaze was stuck to the floor. Solas fought to rewind time and understand what was just said. It took Rethalia touching his shoulder before he suddenly came to his senses. He nodded, returning to his focused state. Optimus somehow managed to lift his free servo and lay it over hers, encasing her digits between his. Solas couldn't tell who was giving who the support.

A sparkling? _Now_?

Ratchet was like lightning, salvaging everything he could, while fixing what needed immediate attention as he went. There were no words spoken, just the sounds of repairs and Rethalia's occasional groan or grunt. She held her gaze with her sparkmate the whole way through. Together, they were stronger than Sol had ever seen any soldier be. They gave one another the bravery they needed to make it to the end. When Optimus pressed Rethalia's servo to his lips, Solas felt his spark shudder.

If Rethalia died, so would Optimus. If two leaders of the Autobots fell today...the war would end.

It felt like joors before the first light of hope fell upon them. Ratchet finally stopped his repairs, closing the panels of Rethalia's working parts. His features betrayed his exhaustion. Both the other mechs in the room awaited what he had to say.

"She'll need an energon transfer from you, Optimus," he began. "She's lost a lot, and until her processor in the lower levels can produce more, she and your sparkling could be in serious danger." He paused to set aside the badly damaged metal slips he'd removed from the femme.

Optimus simply nodded in acceptance, now pushing himself to a stand. He looked like he would never allow his grasp to leave Rethalia's. There was no telling what he could possibly be thinking, for his face was but a mask of complete composure. The only emotion that had come from him was when Rethalia's optics went black. He jumped and cupped her cheek, saying her name.

"She is recharging," Ratchet bit, swatting Optimus' digits away. "Leave her to rest. She has a lot of recovering to do. She was lucky she got here when she did."

Sol's spinal support slid down the wall as he sat on the floor, a servo on his crest.

Rethalia was holding - supporting _life_. A new sparkling by two Primes - who was a rare, precious fembot nonetheless.

The Stone of Primus was being protected by a tiny human girl who was now fighting for her life.

Could this Earth day get anymore eventful?


	5. Chapter 5: Walking on New Grounds

**The flashbacks are real.**

 **The last time I worked on this story, I was getting ready for high school.**

 **It's pretty wild**.

* * *

Of The Heart And Spark

Part 1

Chapter 5

At first, when she had felt the cold metal against her side, there was an all-encompassing fear. She felt herself panicking and thrashing, screams bubbling in her throat as the stranger held fast to her.

Then Sol had arrived, his black and scarlet blur speeding from a small lot across the street. The sight of him was all she needed. Fear turned to calm, and then anger. The struggling began, soon followed by the joyful realization of one of her limbs being freed.

That's when it happened: her skin splitting and the fierce, fiery pain following as the blade sliced into the soft flesh of her side. Her slick blood could be felt, quickly soaking into her jacket and running down her side. Her anger turned to shock, and the fight in her was replaced by the animalistic instinct to do whatever it took to _survive_. Some of the pressure lifted from her assailant's grip for a split second as the mustang tore across the pavement. She took advantage of this distraction to slam her elbow into her attacker's stomach, and throw herself as far away as possible.

Before she could fall helpless to her pain, Sol was there, upon the horrible man with a loud, roaring engine and squealing wheels. It was fuzzy after that, but she remembered being in Sol's cabin, with her hand pressed firmly to her side.

There was a dull memory of being repeatedly asked if she was ok, and of her growing irritated. She remembered snapping at him unintentionally. He was only there out of concern. It wasn't his fault. However, she never had gotten the chance to apologize, for she was only able to lay her pulsing head on the steering wheel, and slip in and out of consciousness.

They had arrived at the base sometime after that, and she was forced to move once more. She felt lightheaded and slightly nauseated as she fell limply from the seats. The bright lights had hit her eyes and she squinted at them, the pain allowing only a moan to escape her. Then the light was blocked, blotted out by a blue-eyed, metallic face.

More voices.

Shifting.

Another face.

The medics had come and that was when she'd blacked out completely. A confusing heaviness blanketed her to the point where she was almost numb.

Now she remained in a pained stasis, her limbs full of lead and apparently lacking the ability to move. She wasn't able to enter that deep rest she sought so much for, but she easily drifted on the edge. The pain, it was so...so clear. But she couldn't groan, or scream, or even mutter a complaint. It was just there. And the crushing blackness wouldn't let her wake up so she could fight it.

The angle of her neck betrayed the fact that she was propped up. Across her body was an itchy, heavy weight. The air was cold and unforgiving, making the silent darkness even more frightening. The smells were so unfamiliar, yet she could almost place it. It was like soap and popsicle sticks, followed closely by sanitizer or a strong cleaner. It was too quiet, even her own breathing masked in suffocating quiet.

There had to be something to focus on - something to draw her attention from the pain. It was all so frustrating, this inability to move. A scorching cry was sitting in her throat, simply waiting to be released. There was no way for her to tell how long she'd been in this state either. But she could feel the stiffness in her spine - the pulsing throb of her side.

Would she even wake? That thought crossed her mind and she wanted to cry, finding it absolutely infuriating that she couldn't even carry out such a simple task.

Why? Why was she here? Where was she? Where were Sol and the others? Was she dead? If this was death, then it was an awful, terrifying thing. An icy chill ran through her and she wanted to curl into a ball from the crawling unease in her. But, of course, she wasn't able to do that.

Move. She needed to move. She would go insane with the stillness.

The blade...the blade was so sharp, the pain so deep...

 _What had the man wanted again?_ she wondered in a slurred, groggy haze. _My money? My body? Or was it something else?_

The man's breath down her neck was hot and wet, his words hurried before anyone could notice. ' _Don't try anything'_ , he'd said. ' _You're going to listen to me, and do everything I say_...' It was so recent, so distinct in her mind. Sadly, it was the most solid thing in her scattered thoughts at the moment. And even though she felt repulsed and sickened with the memory, she clung to it, just for some point of sanity that reminded her she _was_ alive and she was _lost_.

If this happened to be the end of her life, then it was a pitiful thing. She'd done nothing notable in her life, and she had taken sometimes more than she gave. Then again, who hadn't? Perhaps her scales had tipped more in the darker favor than she'd originally believed. This...emptiness could be an in-between, like a purgatory.

But when did eternity smell and feel like a doctor's office?

At the same time, this could be her very own eternal torture cycle of personal trauma. When her father had laid on the bed, slowly dying from something he didn't deserve... Hospitals were now horrible places of death in her mind. She couldn't help it when her very religion and belief felt threatened during those long, endless days by his side. If there was a choice whether she could perish instead of him, she wouldn't have hesitated to take his place. But that wasn't possible. And he was gone. And he would never come back. Never to walk her down the aisle, or threaten her boyfriends, or see her proud letter of acceptance into her dream college, or grow old to see his grandkids, or...

The _silence!_ It was so horrid, so mind-boggling and frightening. There was a dull pain in her chest at the thought that she would be separated so soon from her amazing new turn in life. The Autobots and all their adventures were waiting, generously watching over her. Yet, all it took for her to fail them was a simple stabbing. She wanted to know so much more, to gain their trust like her uncle had. She wanted to meet a femme, to spend more time with Bee, to understand why and when and who.

She had a purpose here, she was sure. Everything happened for a reason.

Pins and needles started to trickle down her chest and arms. A painful wave washed over her and she flinched.

Flinched.

Meaning moved. Knowing that she could move even slightly had hope flaring inside her. The darkness was not so crushing anymore. It steadily became grey, then smoke, then a muted pink.

She wasn't dead. Good. One step at a time.

Her fingers clenched and a sore, parched feeling registered from her throat. She swallowed dryly. That only got another stab of pain. Her toes curled and there was yet another pulse from her side. She wanted to open her eyes so badly, to _see_. A break abruptly came in her eyes and she shut it off, surprised at the brightness. It was so different from the dark, and yet her mind yearned for more. Once again, she cracked her eyelids open, ignoring her pounding headache, and sucked in the white beaming down on her.

Everything was white - just fuzzy and milky and white.

But, as her heavy lids blinked and blinked, the white faded into different colors and shapes. The light turned into a more comfortable tone and she blinked one more time. It took a moment before she could comprehend her surroundings. It was some sort of hospital room like she'd figured. But it was also different - more...private.

The walls were a pale beige color, with no decorations to soften the blank surfaces. White cabinets were hung on the wall to her left, grey handles begging to be opened on their faces. A long countertop sat beneath them, with different piles of bandaging, and vials of sickly yellow fluid next to a set of syringes. That was basically all that was there, the only other furnishing being an uncomfortable-looking leather chair at the foot of her bed.

Sudden sound beside her had her turning her head to the source, where a tall metal door slid aside to let a tall woman through.

Glasses sat on her nose, with long brunette hair slicked back in a ponytail, and light eyeshadow on her eyelids. There was a clipboard in her hand, to which she was looking at before she glanced up. She wore a long white coat over her shoulders, with a dove-blue shirt and skirt beneath.

"Miss Lennox, you're awake," she noted placidly. Fera blinked at her, not immediately responding. "I didn't think the sedatives would wear off so soon. How do you feel?" She set the clipboard on the counter and proceeded to roll a short doctor's stool towards her.

"Fine," Fera intoned.

The woman gave a grin. "Well, that's good. My name is Doctor Terra Shelby. I was the one that brought you here and dressed your wounds," she informed, crossing her legs and setting her hands on her knee.

"How long have I been out?" Fera asked, attempting to move her arm. She had limited motion, only allowing her to rest it on her stomach.

"Only about five hours," Dr. Shelby said, lifting a wrist to check her watch.

 _Five hours?!_

She opened her mouth, but the doctor read her panicked thoughts. "We've already contacted your mother and she thinks you're spending the next few days at my daughter's house as a new friend. If when the subject comes up, her name is Wendy and she doesn't go to your school."

Fera was speechless, unsure what to say. An adult - a doctor no less - lying to cover up the fact that the woman's child had been _stabbed_. She wasn't sure if she trusted this woman if she was this comfortable with fibbing.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't tell your mother what actually happened here," Terra mentioned after a moment of stark shock. Her lips were turned into a petite grin. "I would go to jail for a long, long time for exposing a government secret and compromising the safety of the country."

She leaned over Fera, ignoring her expression of bloodless fear, and pulled back the covers to carefully expose the injury. Fera looked down to find that her stomach had been wrapped in gauze, her wound already bleeding through its bandage.

"We should change these," Dr. Shelby stated, letting the blanket fall over Fera's legs. She watched the doctor wheel away towards the counter where she opened a drawer and pulled out a fresh roll of bandages, a thick adhesive pad, and some small scissors. Looking back, she stood. "Do you want some painkillers? Or some sedatives?" she offered. Fera immediately shook her head, dreading the darkness' presence. Not again.

The woman sat back on the stool, then wheeled her way closer. She reached up and took Fera's shoulder in hand, helping her to sit up. She winced with the movement, taking in a sharp breath as her side seized. Dr. Shelby stopped at the pained gasp of air, and gave her patient time to recover.

"I'm fine," the teen finally murmured, moving slower now. Terra said nothing, but allowed her to fully sit up and hang her legs over the side of the bed. She eventually moved to press the cold metal scissors against Fera's back, slipping them between the dirtied gauze to cut them off. The sound of the blades slicing through was dry, and echoed so much louder in the harsh quiet of the room.

Silently, Fera sat with her back to the doctor, feeling the chilly air against her skin as one by one the strips fell away. She breathed in slow, even strides to stave the discomfort. Though, sitting up like this was making her thoughts spin a bit. Thankfully, it didn't take long until the soiled dressings were removed, her wound now fully set to air. She glanced down at her side, and her stomach knotted up at the sight of the slit. It was such a small thing - merely a crevice in the otherwise smooth surface of her skin. However, she knew better than that. It could easily have punctured her lung or another important organ.

Dr. Shelby quickly and silently went to work spreading medicine over the area, then redressing it. Fera was thankful for the quiet. Whatever conversation they could have would be stiff - too forced to be comfortable. But it was funny, the contentment she found in the lack of noise. Just earlier, she had nearly gone insane from it.

Her abdomen was now fully covered, nothing left exposed. She felt relief from a clean replacement, and the soothing sense of the medication that had been lathered over the cut. It stung a little at first, but it soon was sending feathers of warmth through the pain, dulling it.

"You can lie down now," Terra said, shifting across the floor to remove her gloves and the ruined gauze.

"Is it ok if I don't? I want to sit here for a minute," Fera asked, looking over her shoulder. Terra turned towards her, rubbing sanitizer on her hands and taking a pause.

"Alright," she agreed. "However, if you feel anything - dizziness, nausea, whatever - I suggest you lay down, then call me in if it doesn't get better."

Fera nodded and returned her gaze back to the wall. She could hear the doctor as she left, and how it allowed the silence to come flooding in her absence. It had been easy to deal with the emptiness when company was there, but what about now?

* * *

"Don't hate me, please, I couldn't deal with the pain of losing you again," Rethalia whispered, clenching his servo with as much strength as she could muster.

Shocked, Optimus looked down at her from his spot sitting on the edge of the observation table. "Hate you? My Spark, no matter what you do, I couldn't force myself to hate you. Ever," he assured her.

She seemed to visibly relax, her shoulders sagging. She had recently come out of recharge and had refused to return to it until she had cleared her thoughts first. It had been a quiet few sparkbeats before either of them had spoken, deciding to sit in silence as they enjoyed each other's company for the first time in vorns.

"But you feel something. You cannot hide it from me," she went on, barely audible.

Optimus let the vents on his chassis give a long, slow release of air before he spoke. The last time they had been together, it had been before his departure from Cybertron over three-hundred earth years ago. It had been only seventeen of these years when they had landed on this planet. Utter pain and sadness had gripped the mech's spark at being separated from his other half, but she was needed on Cybertron, and nothing was going to keep her from her comrades and her loyalty to their people back home. Even her sparkmate. As a Prime, it was her duty. But Optimus had still found himself sometimes, standing under the stars and holding his palm close to his spark, reveling in her memory. No one knew of his suffering and ever-declining status.

"Only disbelief, Rethalia." He gently rubbed his thumb over the back of her servo, never taking his optics off hers.

When Ratchet had left the two alone, he had curtly dismissed Solas, who had somehow followed them into the room. They then exited, leaving Optimus in the grasp of his weakened sparkmate. The news given to them needed the time of prehension to sink in properly, mostly for the new dolanno, who had no prior knowledge of his sparkmate's...cargo.

A sparkling.

 _Their_ sparkling.

It was merely one thing out of many that amazed him of his sparkmate. He had never felt more love for his fellow Prime than now, and never felt the pull of her presence as great as when he was aware that she carried his young. He wished to shield her from the worlds and alleviate her agony for her lost comrades. He wanted nothing more than to have his family unit safe in his arms. He tried wrapping his processor around everything, finding an endless sea of information to digest. It would more than likely take a moment or two for him to fully understand.

Also, Rethalia had mentioned the word "she" earlier, meaning that their young one was a femme.

 _One more thing_.

Rethalia forced herself up into a sitting position and Optimus raised a servo to urge her to lie back down. She ignored the gesture, however, and lifted her free digits to tenderly grab his chin and bring them closer together. His vents whirred and hers hummed, their sparks beating in unmistakable rhythm. Their sore, anxious halves called for each other, buzzing with intensity. But they held back, only allowing their lip plating contact as they exercised vorns of perfected restraint. He could feel her pain - everything and anything she'd felt while they were apart: Agony, regret, grief, shock, sparkbreak, and utter joy. Everything. It was so sad yet so frighteningly beautiful.

Too soon, Rethalia pulled away and let their faceplates hover close together. The exhaust pipes on Optimus' back blew a hot cloud of air and the fog faded to nothing. Her optics were such a bright blue, so light that they mirrored the entrancing sky of Earth's heavenly view. Her black and pink helm was slim, and flared at the back, framing the unique curves and dips of her faceplates. She was a breathtakingly gorgeous piece of art. No femme had captured his awe as much as Elita-One. No femme had held such sway over his spark as Rethalia Prime.

Suddenly, her lip plates moved into a small, wondrous grin. "Do you want to see her?" she asked with a purr. Optimus began to say something, but he stopped himself, nodding instead. The femme released his grasp for the first time, laying back against the berth once more. Her slender digits curled under the remains of her functional abdominal slips and she lifted them open, exposing her internal piping.

Optimus scanned the area carefully, noting the position of her tank, shifted up and lengthened in an arched shape to make room for the holding capsule. There was a long cord that disappeared beneath her chassis and connected to the capsule, providing the little one inside the nourishment it needed. The holding capsule itself was a series of overlapping sheets of metal, curving up and around from Rethalia's spinal support, towards her abdominal wall, and then back again. There was a series of protective pieces around the capsule that served as shock absorbers and extra protection against the already, near-indestructible hold.

Uncertain at first, Optimus started to reach towards it, but hesitated. He only continued when Rethalia gave him a reassuring nod. He lightly touched the outer layer of the capsule, jerking back when a sharp nip zapped the tip of his digits. His optic ridges knitted and he paused before touching the surface once more. A blue light flashed once and then the sheets split, retracting into one another to reveal the life beneath. The supports shifted to the side, allowing the capsule to fully open. Once it did, Optimus sat up in a shocked stature, stunned into silence.

There she was: _His_ sparkling.

Something Rethalia and he had created, together.

The sparkling inside was definitely smaller than a mech, giving its class away the moment one saw her. Optimus couldn't recall the last time he had seen a sparkling femme, sadly. She had a small, primary shell already fitted to her, the colors being painted a dark, midnight blue. she laid curled in a tight ball, her tiny chassis open to receive the sparkcable that connected her to her femme creator. The connection suddenly broke, and the cable retracted away until later. The little one's optics flickered on as her chassis closed off the port. Her clenched digits - so, so very tiny - opened and she turned her helm to the side. Her gaze was foggy from the remnants of her recharge. The Prime could only circulate through his vents, his optics glued to the sparkling.

She was so...perfect.

He lifted a servo, finding that the sparkling was barely bigger than it. She glanced up at his faceplates, her own gaze widening. She chirped loudly and jumped up, abruptly grabbing his servo and pulling it close to snuggle greedily to her chest. Her vocals thrummed against his digits and she squeezed tightly to her mech creator. Optimus froze instantly, unsure of what to do. Rethalia chuckled at the sight, shifting onto her side and letting her sparkling slide from her capsule to sit on the table. She propped her helm on her servo and watched them with a grin.

"Rethalia, this...is _our_ sparkling?" Optimus murmured, astonished. That caused another short laugh to escape the femme, and their sparkling buzzed happily with the sound. Vivid-blue optics turned to look up at him, innocence and joy radiating from their pools. The moment she'd seen him, she'd known he was one of her creators.

"Yes, she is. And you can pick her up you know, I'm sure you won't break her," Rethalia teased.

At his sparkmate's comment, Optimus awkwardly drew in the sparkling on his arm closer, his anxious optics following her every move as if she were a neural-fragmenting bomb. What was he to do? He didn't want to accidentally hurt her. She was so fragile...

As if sensing his thoughts, the sparkling hummed and closed the distance between them, scrambling to his chassis and placing her audio receptor against it. She was listening to the beats of his spark. He paused once more, allowing the small femme to adjust herself. She lifted a servo, placing her digits on his chassis, directly over his spark. It jumped at the touch, his happiness soaring. He could feel her softly vibrate against him, her vents sending waves of warm air over his plating. No longer did he feel the disbelief or the uncertainty, only pure exhilaration. His lip plates moved into a wide grin and he let himself envelope his sparkling in his grasp. It had been a very, very long time since he had felt this way.

Rethalia sighed and Optimus looked over at her. "I never thought I would see this," she admitted in a whimsical voice. She was observing their sparkling, but then she glanced up at his optics. Their gazes met and he felt an overwhelming sense of love and pride over their bond. "All this time holding her, I tried finding some way to get the information to you - About her. But it would always fail, and I was unable to tell you sooner." Her vocal processor dipped into a saddened tone. Optimus was unable to give her a reassuring touch, his sparkling already cuddled in his palms. But he did send the feeling through their link, getting a quaint smile from his sparkmate in response. Oh, how long it had been since either of them had felt each other that way.

"She's already over halfway through the holding stage and I was thinking about asking Ratchet to create her first armor," she stated.

Optimus quietly agreed, for he saw no other better suited for the task. The medic deserved to do something light, after all the darkness he had been through these last vorns.

The sparkling in Optimus' grasp fidgeted and he opened up his digits, watching in curiosity as she looked up at him and gave a clear, unmistakable smile. He smiled back, wonder overtaking his CPU. "I cannot come to believe that something so innocent could be created in a world of war," he added, holding her closer. Rethalia said nothing, causing him to turn his optics to her.

She was now on her back, her optics aimed for the ceiling. "She doesn't even have a name yet," she whispered. "Silverlight...suggested I wait for you..." The femme Prime threw her servos over her face, masking her expression. The horrible taste of guilt and sadness wafting from her frame and poisoned their bond. Their sparkling popped up from her place in Optimus' servos, and peeked over at her nannia, sensing the turmoil brewing in her.

"But now everyone is _gone_... Each one, killed right before me. Even Sunraider wasn't spared." She murmured the last part, unable to keep the shaking terror out of her voice.

Sunraider had been the trusted medic and second-in-command of Rethalia's meager band of assigned Autobots aboard the _Hope_. She had been a kind fembot, known for her uplifting and joyful attitude and willingness to give advice to any in need of it. Optimus felt saddened as well, having known each of the team personally. But it would be a bigger blow to Rethalia, who had been the one to lead them from harm and make sure they lived to see the next cycle.

Optimus shifted the sparkling to one servo and leaned down to pick up Rethalia's upper half, wordlessly bringing her as close as he could while she shuddered in sorrow. She was left to have her moment of grief against his shoulder as their sparkling chirped sadly. He realized that she felt everything her femme creator did, and he could sense her own mourning on top of that. There was no doubt that the young had known its creators' comrades. He knew that Sunraider would have adored this young light of joy.

Rethalia blew shuddering waves of air from her vents, unable to even circulate properly because of her horror. Her vocal processor whined and whimpered, all bravery and masked emotion expected in a Prime cast aside as she expelled her dark regret. Optimus understood all too well how what it was she was feeling. There had been many times when he himself had felt this way. But only once had he gone through something of this magnitude. He just hoped that Rethalia would be the strong being he knew and pull free of this shadow.

He understood that this wasn't the first time she had suffered such a blow. There was a common ground between commanding officers when it came to things like this. But unlike before, he was here to help her through it. And, no longer would he have to suffer alone as well. Now they had one another, and their sparkling, who was sitting patiently in his grasp. They would get through this as a family.

Rethalia shook again, her despondence clearly taking its toll. Tears beaded down her faceplates, landing on Optimus' chassis and leg. Together they sat, longer and longer to ride out her sobs.

It went on like this, the mighty leader of the Autobots holding his mate as she cried, and their sparkling having amazing patience as she watched her creators quietly. Eventually, however, Rethalia's cries faded, and her exhausted systems forced her into a deep state of recharge.

Slowly, Optimus set her back down on the table. He then hesitantly made the move to place the sparkling in her holder. But she wouldn't have it, wriggling violently out of his grasp. She swiftly scaled and up his arm, climbing his chassis and slipping over his shoulderbolt with ease. Before he could react, his body trembled and a program stored deep within his CPU roared to life. The underused systems exploded from his upper back, between his two exhaust pipes. His sparkling crawled into a ball and the plating shifted up and over her like a protective blanket. Optimus' frame gave one more jerk as the capsule clicked into place, and then it stopped, leaving him in stunned shock. He was filled with an unfamiliar warmth that both bewildered and pacified him.

The sparkling could be felt as a slight weight on his shoulders. His thoughts connected with her own in crystal clarity, and he could but sit in awe as his creation slipped into recharge. He turned his helm to look over his shoulder, attempting to get a glimpse at the chamber. He saw only a fraction, for most of it was already deeply lodged in his armor, and attached to the neural relay beneath. In this position, he could hear and feel everything the sparkling was experiencing. He felt the love and excitement she felt, along with the fading energy that lingered in her petite shell. But there was also sadness there because ' _Tia'_ was unhappy.

He grinned at the name. Tia. Rethalia. She knew his name too, but her vocal processors were not fully developed yet. Instead, she called him 'Mime.'

The warmth never left him, and he became disappointed knowing that it would soon be time to return his sparkling to her Tia. But, he would love the nanoclicks that he did have her, relishing every beat of their synchronized sparks.

He reached over and grasped Rethalia's servo in his own, calming her restless spark as she fought her demons. The touch tranquilized her and her sparkmate glanced down at her peaceful expression, taking the moment to listen to her whirring vents. It was so wonderful just having her here, with him, alive.

As she sat in recharge, he began to go over names that they could discuss for their sparkling.

A kind, peaceful moment he grimly reminded himself would never last.

* * *

It wouldn't be until about an hour and a half later that Fera would have the ability to actually stand and take a few steps without swaying. The concrete was cold to the soles of her feet, and it sent dull chills up her spine. Scanning the room, she found her clothes folded on the seat of the chair at the foot of her bed. She quickly took off the thin scrub bottoms she was wearing and slipped on her jeans, careful not to move too much or she would aggravate her wounds again. Her shirt was slung over the back of the chair, the fabric now washed and thoughtfully stitched. She pulled that over her head, but left the jacket, knowing it was probably unsalvageable. Her feet carried her to the door where she painfully pulled on her tennis shoes. After five minutes of that, she stepped closer, and watched it slide aside.

The now familiar concrete wall before her made her roll her eyes. _At least paint around here_ , she thought derisively. _It's depressing_.

She let her hand fall off the doorframe as she moved down the right side of the pathway. On both sides of her body, there were doors that likely led to other medical dorms. The cold, sanitizer-scented air around her helped to clear her thoughts enough that she could read the signs above the doors. Every so often, she saw the last names of soldiers and their ranks pasted beside the frames. Privates, sergeants, and even a commander were all on the list of injured.

She pushed through two double doors that blocked off the other half of the hallway, seeing the entryway to the lobby spread out ahead of her. Before that was an attendant's desk with a woman watching a computer screen avidly. Back the way she'd come, Fera had seen the leisured forms of nurses and doctors going about their business. Thankfully, however, Dr. Shelby hadn't been one of them.

Fera started down the corridor, her sights set ahead. She walked out into the larger space, feeling a dizzying wave for a moment at the sudden change.

 _Just a short walk_ , she had told herself. Anything was better than that boring, thought-enforcing room.

She noticed the mezzanines and scaffolding above were empty. Even the ones closer to the ground were formless. Lone soldiers roaming the base walked past her, not even noticing her presence.

She stopped one of them by grabbing his arm. "Excuse me, could you tell me where everyone is?" she asked as politely as she could.

The man nodded, bobbing brown eyes and shortly cropped blonde hair. "They're on a mission at the moment." He paused. "I guess it's alright to tell you everything." So, getting information from him would be surprisingly easy. Apparently, she was better known than she'd thought.

"About eleven years ago, a kid named Sam Witwicky was given the last sliver of the AllSpark - something that the Autobots worshiped back on their home planet. The enemy had no knowledge that it existed until recently, and to not go into details, it was stolen. Now, we deployed a unit to figure out who has it." He finished, and Fera thanked him, allowing him to walk on.

When did the AllSpark become a sliver? And why did that Witwicky kid have it?

She turned back towards the main space and looked around, wondering what to do.

 _The AllSpark was destroyed? How_? she wondered this as she walked over to a small bench beside a pile of storage boxes. Sighing, she laid her head back on the wood and settled her shoulders to lean part of her wight against them. Her side was beginning to act up again and only if she sat perfectly still would it feel almost normal.

The heavy footsteps of an Autobot had her opening her eyes again, looking up to see Bumblebee striding into the room. He seemed bored as she was.

"Hey Bee," she called, wincing from the snap of pain in her side. His head shot in her direction and all the former boredom instantly faded. He walked over to her and got low, setting a hand on the ground to steady himself.

" _Hey, hey, you, you_ ," he said over the radio.

"You hear what happened?" she wondered with a bitter grin, setting her back against the boxes. Bee shook his head, shifting himself to sit Indian-style. "I got stabbed today."

Immediately, his features turned to concern. " _Crazy story girl...how you been?_ " He sounded worried. Well, as worried as one could sound through the waves of the radio.

Fera lifted a hand and waved it off, flinching at the sudden movement. "I'm fine now. Dr. Shelby fixed me up," she assured him.

Bee seemed skeptical at first, but took her word for it. " _Sammy boy_... _looks like_ _trouble_..." he put in, changing the subject.

Fera nodded, placing a hand on her leg. "I know, someone told me. Why didn't you go?"

She remembered that Epps has told her that the bot once had a close relationship with Sam. In fact, Sam had been around her age when he met Bumblebee. However, as the war moved on to other focuses and Sam tried starting a family with his wife, he strayed away from his comrades. It was clear that these two had a bond that ran deep and true.

Bee looked at the ground sadly. " _It's a_ s _oldier's duty...only human_..." he informed her.

She grunted as she leaned forward, catching the young Autobot's attention. She hid a grimace and patted his knee before she sat back up. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to see him again soon. Maybe I'll get to meet him too." She tried cheering the cyberling up, but she knew it was all for show. She really couldn't be sure when, or even if, Bee would see his old friend.

The Autobot nodded in hopeful agreement, his words cut off by the voice of a female:

"Miss Lennox, I'm not certain your doctor approves of your moving about so soon."

It was Dr. Shelby, with her hands on her hips and her feet planted at the mouth of the human-only access hall. Bee gave a long, low buzz and he shrunk into his shoulders as if he was the one in trouble. Fera ducked her head as well, wincing at the sarcasm in the doctor's voice.

" _Bye-bye, birdy_..." Bee said briskly, standing to quickly scramble from the situation. Fera slipped off the bench, irritated at his betrayal, and started towards the waiting woman.

"You're a sneaky one," she commented, walking beside Fera as they headed towards the medical hall again. It was a short walk, being only a few doors away before they arrived. She could tell this was a smaller building, which made sense, as it was one of the lesser important of the others.

She knew that the clusters she'd seen on Bee's holographic map were other groups of Autobots. He told her that the major centers of operation were in Washington D.C and San Diego. This thought caused a sharp, but strong surge of excitement to shoot through her. Of course, there were more, and she couldn't wait to meet them.

They walked into Fera's room and Terra stood nearby as her patient moved atop the mattress. Her arms crossed over her chest and she wore the same look on her face that Fera's mother held all too often.

"Listen, I know that it's a little boring in here when you have nothing to do," she began softly. "However, your wound needs to heal, and you walking around with thirty-foot giants isn't going to help,"

Fera nodded and steadily gazed at burning brown eyes. She knew not to argue, especially with a person licensed to stick her with drugs.

"I just...don't like being cooped up. I want to be able to move around," Fera murmured.

Dr. Shelby's eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully. "That's understandable," she replied. For a moment, she fell quiet. "How about this: I will come here once every two hours or so to check on you. If you feel like taking a walk, then I'll go for a walk with you. However, if you do not wish to, I will leave you to yourself."

It was a suggestion which, with her anxious legs, Fera couldn't help but agree to. Terra seemed pleased with herself for making her patient happy and she visibly relaxed in relief. She left to go off and tend to her other patients after giving the teen some pain medication.

Fera let herself relax in the bed, relenting to the uncomfortable sheets and painkillers. Soon, her eyes were too heavy to lift anymore, and she let them close.

But, before she went under, her ears caught the distant sound of a revving engine...

* * *

It was harder than originally thought to occupy oneself when bored. To find something to do while in a stretch of peace with your enemies was particularly difficult.

Arachnid was planning something in the shadows, but the methodical Decepticon femme was widely known for her ability to patiently sit in wait for thousands of cycles. There was no telling when anything could happen. But, with the shorter time-span of Earth's cycles, her meticulous ways would have to change. That didn't mean she wouldn't stop her insanely wicked tactics.

Sol thought of all the times he had seen the strange femme on the field of battle. There were a few times he'd seen her stab her enemies sparks through the backs of their bodies. And to think now she was the Decepticon leader...

It made Sol's frame shudder as he drove through the dimly lit hall of the base's exit tunnel.

He even wondered if she had anything to do with the devastating Dark Hunt, where many femmes and sparklings on Cybertron were hunted down mercilessly by starving and angry Terminal class radicals. There were only thirteen femmes Sol knew as of now, both Autobot and Decepticon. Sunraider, Silverlight, and Windripper had brought down the original total of sixteen.

Solas pushed down the hollow, thick sadness abruptly building in him. He tried to focus instead on the road ahead, fearing the hole he would fall in if he let himself continue these depressing thoughts. If it came down to it, he could delete the horrible memory, but that was extremely dangerous - borderline idiotic.

When deleting memories or experiences, that event or thing could be linked to a similar occurrence. Say if a Cybertronian lost both its creators. If they were to delete the memory of their creators' misery, they could delete their entire life cycle knowing their creators. Deleting the knowing of their deaths meant deleting their memories and anything associated with them. That couldn't happen. There could only be healing.

His processor drifted to other things while he drove. It wasn't long until they turned towards Fera. How much would it take to actually kill a human? They couldn't perish from what happened to her, could they? The thought made him nervous.

Nonetheless, he continued around the city, finding himself driving between the tall buildings and speeding down highways. The landscape was far different from Cybertron. It was less focused on efficiency of transportation, and more on efficiency of space. The architecture was oddly clunky and dark compared to the gleaming technology that made up the surface of his home. However, the humans clearly celebrated art in this city. He was interested in seeing what this species could create when they weren't caught up in their ridiculous savagery.

One of these was a soaring structure that had been built in honor of the freeing of a collection of human slaves called the 'Arch', held proudly over the river. Its shining surface was strangely similar to what would be found on Cybertron, sending a pang of homesickness through Sol. He started for the structure, heading northbound. He slowed and took a right turn along a narrow trail towards a lot that would let him park nearby.

He stopped, facing the river, and sat beside the monument. Humans looked at him as they walked past, seemingly confused at his presence. He pretended not to notice them, simply watching the waves of water as they crashed together and lapped the shoreline. Water was a resource considered nonexistent on Cybertron, replaced instead by liquid mercury.

Sol stopped, shifting back through his files. Again, the Stone of Primus had crossed his CPU.

At the moment, the Decepticons didn't know about it. And, they didn't know about Fera. Both of those things were factors the Autobots had that their enemies didn't - two more things to help them win this endless war.

There was a brief thought that entered his CPU and he paused, filing over it again and again: Why was Fera involved in all this? Yes, she was one of the billions of humans that could be carrying the Stone. There was no reason that, say, a trained soldier such as Epps couldn't carry it. Yet Optimus had allowed her to stay at the base, and even let her keep the Stone. But why? There had to be some reason for letting her stay near them, contained in the compound.

By no means was the base tiny, however, just of lesser free space than the other, larger locations of operation. It was a good system of available halls that led to a group of underground structures. There was a set of two of these buildings that served as barracks for either humans or Cybertronians. There was also the command center and meetings room in the very center of the hive, as well as officers' quarters and three other separate wings. She was safe there, but for how long?

The last thing Sol had seen of the petite, ignorant female was when she had been wheeled off towards the medical bay. It was clear that the closest of all the structures had been purposefully placed not far away from the main entrance because of the injuries human soldiers took. The medbay for Cybertronians was split between the east and south wings, also nearby when required. Rethalia had been settled into a room in the south medbay for safety reasons. It probably left less of a risk of the sparkling being found out as well. Maybe Solas could visit them soon, to see the miracle his leaders had created.

As soon as the thought crossed him, he dismissed it. Ratchet had made it very clear that he didn't want any sentient being by that bay until he had everything fixed - that included Solas. He scanned the memory file and nearly chuckled.

* * *

 _"Ok, this is how it's going to go: No one knows of that sparkling. And they won't. Not until Optimus or Rethalia themselves announce it. Understand?"_

 _Ratchet had brought Sol out into the hallway, nearly dragging the shocked mech out the doors. They now stood nearby the door, with Ratchet's plates nearly swelling off his frame in anger. He was furious._

 _Sol wisely nodded, leaning against the wall. "Will they be ok? I mean truly. I don't want to hear that fake stuff you spew to make your patients feel better," he demanded. He was trying to appear calm, but it was difficult to hide his full worry. He was concerned mainly because if Rethalia died, so did Optimus. In one foul swoop, both Primes could be taken from the war, and leave the Autobots fatally vulnerable._

 _Ratchet paused, finally crossing his arms over his chassis. "Fine," he snapped. "Yes, they will survive." His optics glanced over by the door and then back to Solas. "But I will have to activate her shutdown program so I can run a full diagnostic. She will regain some strength by the energon transfusions from Optimus, but just letting her recharge won't be enough. Her sparkcable is clipped, so I have to repair that as soon as possible. Other than that, her armor is replaceable and so are the circuits and internal plating. She was lucky." He finished and waited, maybe expecting more._

 _Sol nodded. "It only took the lives of her comrades," he stated grimly._

 _Ratchet's frown deepened. His gaze dipped to the floor. "I knew Sunraider back on Cybertron." His sigh was heavy. "She didn't deserve to die like that."_

 _At this, silence consumed them. Solas couldn't think of the rights words to say, so he finally allowed the medic to take his leave._

* * *

Now, here he sat, thinking over everything and trying not to allow the deaths of peers to cloud his joy. A sparkling! And a femme no less.

But the true curiosity started up from her being created by two Primes. How would she turn out to be? Was she going to upgrade to a strong, noble being like her mech creator? Or caring and intelligent like her femme creator? He hoped that she would somehow become a bit of both, taking on each personality of her famous creators. That would be an interesting Cybertronian.

But then there was the still ongoing problem of keeping her, Fera, and the Stone of Primus safe. It was a surprising realization to find that all three had some connection to the future of his race. It just made him that more worried about his guarded's condition.

Tired of waiting to hear of an update, he comlinked Wheeljack.

~ _What is Fera's condition?_ ~ he hailed steadily.

Wheeljack saw right through it, chuckling over the link. ~ _Worried about her? You know its only been two days, right?_ ~ he teased.

Sol snorted over the connection, slight agitation sparking in his frame. ~ _Just answer the question_.~

Wheeljack chuckled again, but responded anyway, ~ _Last I heard she was wandering around base. Bee talked with her for a while before the "scary woman" came and took her back to her room_.~

Sol's seriousness broke and he cracked a short laugh. ~ _She's stronger than I'd thought she'd be,_ ~ he noted, falling quiet. Wheeljack didn't immediately respond and Solas grew confused. ~' _Jack_?~ he called.

The mech's connection snapped stronger and he answered with a distracted, ~ _Huh? Oh, sorry Sol, I got sidetracked a bit there..._ ~

Solas could sense the withdrawal through the comlink. ~ _Wheeljack, are you alright?_ ~ he wondered. The mech went absolutely silent, and Sol instantly knew he had hit a circuit.

He could hear the sadness in Wheeljack's vocal tone as he answered, ~ _Yeah. Today was just a blow to the spark_.~ He paused before continuing a moment later. ~ _No one was spared. Even Rethalia barely made it. It just frags. It really does_.~ Their conversation slowly faded and the quiet drew on.

~ _They are gone in form but not in our memories. As long as we have those, they won't fade away. Nothing can change that_ ,~ Sol said, awkwardly trying to comfort his comrade.

Wheeljack sighed over the connection, ~ _You're right. Thanks for that Solas_ ,~ he acknowledged. It was clear that he appreciated the sentiment, even if it was a bit rough. ~ _Oh_ , a _nd Sol?_ ~ The mech didn't say anything, letting the technician finish.

~ _Fera's awake_.~

Then the comlink went dead.

The dirt beneath Sol's wheels burst through the air and flung across his paint as he drew his body back and turned towards the main road. The Arch shrunk behind him as he flew over the grassy field and onto the blacktop once more. Cars honked and swerved, repeatedly getting into his way as he swung around and headed back in the direction of the base.

It was located deep within Forest Park, where an area masked to look like a large sandstone bolder hid the true entrance.

Sol began through the streets and hit highway sixty-four before he eventually came to the wide, vegetated area. The rubber wheels beneath him bounced over the uneven ground and his engine rumbled with the strain. Of course, it was no regular engine like the earth-bound vehicles, so it wouldn't fail. However, the shifting and jerking were sending his sore parts into a whining fit.

He finally came to the bolder and stopped, letting the scanning systems below his tires filter through his form. He felt the slight tickle as the scanners brushed under his shape and then they stopped, a buzzing noise sounding. The boulder's surface popped out and up, lifting up by the supports and cables that would later fold back into hiding when the door closed again. The metallic secondary door parted as well, allowing a clear, dark view into the halls. Sol started forward again, the LED lights on both his sides flickering on as he passed.

He came to the base entrance and rested in the lobby area. His conversion shaft clicked into place and he began the transformation, his body finally standing tall on his peds. He lifted his arms up into a long stretch, and sighed with relief. Looking around, he saw Bee sitting with a group of soldiers off to the right of the room. Wheeljack was the only other of his comrades present, his body left to squat before two female humans. Immediately, Sol recognized Fera. He didn't know the other, but he remembered her as one of the medics who rushed Fera away to the medbay.

His steps carried him forward, and the three looked up at him. "Hey, you came fast," Wheeljack noted, standing.

Sol huffed, brushing off the comment. "I had to make sure you wouldn't crush her, you clumsy sparkling." He clapped an arm against Wheeljack's and their servos clasped one another's wrist. Wheeljack chuckled, the fins beside his head flashing. They pulled back and Sol looked down, seeing Fera and the unfamiliar female watching them. He got low and placed a fist on the ground, laying his other arm over his knee bolt. "You feeling better already?" he questioned Fera.

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, their blue color blazing. "I'm not made of glass," she snipped.

Sol raised a placating servo and then turned his attention to the much less grouchy woman.

"My name is Dr. Terra Shelby. I am the one assigned to be Fera's caretaker," she reported.

Sol nodded in greeting, carefully taking note of the medic for future reference. "So can you...walk?" he wondered, turning his optics back on Fera.

She dropped her arms, raising an optic ridge. "How do you think I got out here? Yes, I can walk. The wound wasn't deep." She said that with an edge of irritation, as if that fact were obvious. Her hand cupped the spot over her wound gently in a clearly unconscious gesture.

Sol didn't understand the young female's anger, yet he had a thought about it. She was completely bored, and nobody had been there to give her company.

He decided to ignore the bitter tone in her voice and focus on the positive. "Is she able to return home anytime soon?" he questioned the doctor.

She shook her head, lifting a finger to push up the two round pieces of glass and wire on her nose. "Definitely not. Firstly, she still needs assistance in redressing the wound and applying medication. Secondly, her body is too unpredictable at the moment for her to go anywhere. We still don't know if the area will become infected or if she will go into shock."

"But that doesn't mean I can't walk around every so often," Fera put in. "I'd roam a lot less if I had my violin, but I don't see that happening." She looked at the woman beside her, and she returned the gaze sympathetically.

"I didn't know you played," she said curiously.

Fera shrugged, a wince crossing her face. "Since I was around six, I think. I was working on a solo I found when this happened." She lifted her hands and gestured at the base around her.

Sol grunted, catching their attention. "I have no idea what you're talking about." There were still many things about this planet he didn't understand. Its cultures and technology were two things he highly doubted he'd come to be familiar with anytime soon. Understanding his charge would be an equally as daunting task. He stood and watched as Dr. Shelby set a hand on Fera's shoulder to signal it was time to leave.

The teen glanced between her and Sol. "Next time I get the chance, I promise I'll play for you." She then gave him an uncharacteristically soft grin, leaving him stunned, and turned to leave alongside the medic.

* * *

"Now can you hold _still?_ Just quit moving for one astrosecond while I reformat your spinal circuits."

Ratchet was back with Rethalia and Optimus, seeming to come in barely half a breem after the femme had come out of her recharge. Their sparkling was placed back into her holding capsule when the door had opened, revealing Ratchet behind. He greeted them both with exhaustion and relief mixing in his features, then had Rethalia sit on the edge of the observation bench with her legs hanging off the side.

She giggled at the medic's scornful tone and he sighed dramatically. Optimus' lips came up in a grin as he heard his sparkmate's laugh. She immediately stopped and cleared her vocal processor.

"Sorry, it tickled." She wrapped her digits around the lip of the bed and her optics glanced up at Optimus, a mischevious smirk still present.

The wonderful sound of her laugh was enough to flood his chassis with warmth. The last time she had laughed... So much has happened since then. It was hard to imagine the kind of creatures they were so long ago. He had failed to remember that she often snorted if she laughed too hard. It was a charming quirk that she hated, but he'd made his personal goal to make happen as much as possible.

Ratchet set down his tools and closed the panel he had opened, coming around the table to face them both. "Rethalia, I had not completely covered your situation before your recharge earlier." He paused as the fembot sat straighter. Both she and her sparkmate's expressions had fallen quicker than it took to shutter the optic.

"Your sparkcable is clipped, allowing only half of the energy to get to your sparkling. However, this is an easy fix, as well as replacing a few other circuits and internal parts that were damaged. Your abdominal slips were the most damaged, but can also be fixed. The membrane of your circuit column was also punctured, but the holding capsule actually may have saved your life." He pulled the tool cart around the table and set it beside the berth. "If it had not been there, your spinal support surely would have been sliced in half."

There was a flash of anxiety in Rethalia's chassis, but it was quickly soothed by Optimus. His presence swirled through their bond, encircling her thumping spark in a wave of calm. She immediately relaxed and her appreciation trickled over their connection.

The sparkling's movement inside her added to her soothing. The little one was apparently always reassuring her, taking the time to carefully understand its nannia's feelings and then carrying out the correct response. She was an extremely smart thing.

"I'll have to put you in shutdown until the operation is over, but I don't want to stress your sparkling with the separation." He looked to Optimus at this and the leader nodded knowingly.

Rethalia vented her air, and her sparkmate felt her spark growing tight and her CPU filling with nervous ticks. Her optics found the ground and she gripped the edge of the bed. The sparkling had already been separated a few kalons ago, therefore it would be weakened by the lack of nutrition it was getting. She wouldn't be affected by this, would she?

Optimus was quick to send her his gentle assurance again before Ratchet placed a servo on her shoulder. "I promise I will get your sparkling back to you as soon as possible. The operation shouldn't take too long." Rethalia looked up to see the medic's calming expression, his tone sympathetic. "But Optimus," he glanced over, Rethalia following his lead, "while you're holding the sparkling, you will not be able to stay in here. It would undoubtedly stress the young one."

Both sparkmates straightened, surprise clear on their faceplates. "But won't the sparkling be even more anxious, being taken away at such a young stage?" Rethalia wondered nervously.

Ratchet shook his cranial unit. "I wish Optimus could stay. If something would spike in your spark, he would be useful. But the sparkling would not take too well seeing its femme creator in surgery." The medic raised a reasoning servo and Rethalia nodded slowly.

"I understand," she agreed softly. Silver digits suddenly slipped over her own and she grinned sadly at the touch. He was always there when she needed him most.

"It will only last for a sparkbeat. Our sparkling will be safe," he promised.

Rethalia moved her free servo, placing it on her damaged midsection. She then reached in and collected her precious sparkling, lifting it up and into her mech creator's arms. The midnight-blue offspring of the Primes had awoken, quickly twisting to reach for its creator with tiny digits. But Optimus simply shifted her on her back, allowing her to see who had taken her. She calmed in an instant, gazing up at her dolanno. Rethalia and Optimus shared one last nanoclick of contact before the femme allowed a small smile to cross her features. She reached up and touched their sparkling's cheek, causing her to gaze over once more. She didn't struggle like before, but she did seem anxious.

"The less time we have her out of her capsule, the better," Ratchet put in, breaking the family's moment.

Optimus almost glared at him, but he knew that was not befitting of a Prime. Instead, he watched as Rethalia released a long sigh from her vents and dropped her arm. Her sparkling was lifted higher until she was out of view. Optimus then cast a last, darting look at her before turning away.

"Don't name her without me," she called as her family began to leave the room. Their offspring had already vaulted over Optimus' shoulderbolt, her form tucking close and quickly masked by his holding chamber. Her sparkmate gave a single, long nod of love.

Rethalia said nothing as she laid back on the operations table and proceeded to settle herself. Optimus left, but still held a line of security for her to hold on to as she worried about everything but herself.

Ratchet came close and opened the small access to her upper chassis. The cavity held the connections between her jugular cables and her spark, with the shutdown port located behind. Ratchet flicked his optics to hers and connected the wire in his digit into the port. As he entered the shutdown code, he gave her a brisk nod.

"Let's get this over with."

And her optics went black.


	6. Chapter 6: Old Memories, New Pain Pt 1

**College is going good,**

 **I mean I have zero time to write and I have grey hairs now but it's fine :D**

 **I'm glad to see some old faces stopping by in the comments, that's really cool. You're the reason I'm doing this!**

 **I really appreciate everyone, including the new readers finding me for the first time!**

 **You're all awesome :)**

* * *

Of the Spark And Heart

Part 1

Chapter 6 Pt. 1

Fera was now healed enough for her trek home. This news had come to Solas as he spoke with her medic, Dr. Shelby. She explained that the teen would be tired at first, but would become fresh as new sooner than expected. He found himself relieved at that point, knowing her importance and recognizing her youth. If she would have died, it would have been a crushing blow to the war. It went to show how easily a human could lose their life on this planet.

As Fera got herself ready to travel home, Sol took it upon himself to report back to Optimus. He also had an apology ready concerning what happened days before. He had no right being in that room with the Prime and his mate when they received the news of their lives, he knew that now.

His steps thudded dully down the concrete halls and he turned, the Autobot symbol in his sights. CPU pulsing with his many thoughts, he lifted an arm to press the keys to open the door. The metal slid aside and he moved forward. He took two steps and stopped cold, freezing in both shock and awe.

Before him was his leader, seated before the master console in the center of the room. He had his side to Solas, but didn't turn, as he apparently hadn't heard him come in.

In his large, made-for-battle servos, was a femme sparkling.

She was chirping happily, her tiny digits playing with Optimus' own. She jumped and clung to his chassis, sliding down as she couldn't fully reach across. A deep, soft chuckling echoed from Optimus' vocal processor, a gleeful expression overtaking his faceplates. Sol stood and stared, feeling deeply as if he were intruding.

Optimus laughing? He had never seen the mech so happy.

The femme hummed and trilled, joyfully caught up in her mech creator's grasp. She was so _small_ compared to him - he could so easily crush her. Her slight frame fell back and she sat with her aft on Optimus' palms. Giggles bubbled joyfully from her at her own actions, Optimus' own amusement adding to hers.

Solas found it was time, softly grunting to get the Prime's attention. Optimus' face snapped to the door, his servo coming up to quickly hide the sparkling from view. She was small enough that she was easily cupped in his grasp, which would have been entertaining if not for the current circumstances.

The creator found only Sol standing in wait and he slowly opened his digits again. The sparkling looked around in confusion, wondering what the sudden reaction had stemmed from.

"I'm sorry to come in without telling you first..." Sol turned and began to leave, ready to press the button by the door.

"It is alright, Solas," Optimus called. Solas turned, seeing his leader had stood. "You came to talk about something, correct?"

The sparkling appeared up by his shoulderbolt, then slipping over his back, crawling into a ball as a holding chamber reached over her and clicked into place. It was only a slight silver bulge on his broad upper back, unnoticeable by the untrained optic. Seeing a dolanno at work was...intimidating and incredible.

For a fleeting, brief moment, Sol wondered if he would ever be one himself.

"Fera has recovered enough to return home. I wanted to inform you that we may not return for a few Earth days," he reported.

Optimus nodded. "Is that all?"

Shaking his helm, Solas held out his servo to give his leader the object inside. Optimus reached out, taking the token. When he pulled back, he opened his digits.

What Sol had given him was a small collection of tiny metal plates strung up together by thin, braided chains. The body was painted all in a stark white, with dark blue detailing done on the chassis, arm braces, and helmet. There was also a minuscule Autobot symbol carved into the chassis.

Optimus' digits hovered over the thing in his palm, the tip of his thumb gently touching it. The amazing detailing in the faceplates captured most of his attention, leaving him visibly both amused and impressed.

"Fera told me to give that to you. She heard that your sparkmate was wounded, and she wanted to give you something to make you feel better." Sol chuckled at the memory, remembering the human female's hands raised to hand him the craft. She was obviously embarrassed, her eyes traveling anywhere but to his optics.

"What is it?" Optimus wondered.

"She said it's a doll. She's been working on it to keep her busy while she healed."

The Prime gave one nod and then looked back down. "Tell her it is appreciated, and that I hope to talk with her again soon," he said, lowering it.

"Of course. But...one last thing..." Sol paused, tapping his knuckles against his leg. "I'm sorry for intruding on you and Rethalia. It was out of line, and I apologize for that." He glanced up and saw Optimus staring at him. There was no malice or anger there, simply a calm understanding.

"We all have our curiosities Sol. You are forgiven nonetheless," he noted.

Sol gave a thankful grin and took a few steps towards the door. "I'll keep my comlink open," the mech said as a farewell. He watched his leader as he backed up, seeing Optimus again study the doll before he turned and walked out.

Down the halls he went once more, taking the time to check in on Hound, who was getting a replacement chassis plating nearby. He popped in the doorway and found Wheeljack shaping the piece on his chair. Sideswipe was also there, at another table mixing colors for the paint. Hound glanced up from the table he was sitting on and raised a servo in greeting, to which Sol returned. Wheeljack and Sideswipe also greeted him in the same way, quickly returning to their work afterward.

Sol exited the room and soon found himself at the main entrance to the base. Fera was already there, one hand clasped over the Stone of Primus.

"Ready?" he called, catching her attention.

She dropped the legendary artifact and nodded, walking up to him. "I've been ready for a while." She waited a few feet away for him to finish his transformation, then climbed into the passenger's side. The door closed and Sol revved his engine, driving around before growling past the main door, into the tunnel, out the faux bolder, and through Forest Park.

They traveled in silence for a while. However, Sol soon found himself watching Fera as she stared out the window. Instead of speaking, he decided to bide time by playing with the radio. Human voices, drawn long or short, or even clearly tampered with crossed over the air. The music of this planet was odd, but it wasn't detestable. A few songs that played he found he liked.

"Do you mind waking me up when we get back? I'm kind of tired," Fera asked eventually, settling close to the door.

Sol felt the light, warm body of the female and he glanced at her again. " _Go ahead_ ," he said over the speakers.

She wrapped her arms around herself and laid her helm against the window. She released a sigh and her eyelids closed. Sol studied her for a moment more and then turned away the mirror. He had forgotten to ask her about the last time she'd slept; he was curious about her 'dreams.' It didn't really seem to matter that much if he'd forgotten about it, though.

The cities he came across thinned and became sparse, the signs flashing the names of one county or city after another. A dip in the road caused his body to roughly bounce and he winced, glancing back at his charge to see if she woke up. Her soft breathing continued on. Relieved, he focused on the path ahead. Their estimated time traveled was about two joors, meaning they still had two more to go. Stiffness could be felt in his form already and he considered stopping. However, the events of the past Earth days had that idea instantly flushed from his thoughts.

A few organic insects smashed against his windshield. Distaste echoed through his circuitry and he quickly wiped away the mess. " _Stupid fragging...pesky...annoying bugs_..." he grumbled. The wipers quickly cleared his windshield, but there was no cleaning his hood and front bumper. That would have to be dealt with later on.

The buildings around them lessened until they reached the countryside. A sign that flew past him read their current position as only a few miles from Bates County. Sol headed off the freeway and on the smaller roads, taking the shorter route.

Less than a joor.

He turned down a side path and across the blacktop. He felt a shift in his cabin and found Fera's eyes breaking open. She lifted herself up and blinked, looking around.

"Are we there yet?" she said in a groggy voice, rubbing her hand over her face.

Sol scanned another sign, sorting the letters. " _Yes, if you consider twenty miles 'there_ ,'" he responded. She sat straight in the seat, a large intake of air coming through her lips as she stretched them wide in a yawn.

"That's pretty close," she confirmed. "I guess I should start making up something."

" _Making up something? Like a lie?_ " he wondered. He heard her shift again and found her expressing something akin to guilt.

"Well yes, I guess. But it's more like an excuse."

" _An excuse for what?_ "

He was bewildered and the girl didn't seem too willing to explain much more. She placed an arm on the edge of Sol's door. "For the sports car about to pull into our driveway. And, maybe this." She jabbed a finger at her midsection and Sol paused. He hadn't thought of the female creator that Fera lived with. "My mom will ask questions. Eventually, she'll know about the wound." She calmed down from her snappy response and Sol rumbled over the road without a word. Eventually, he tried the conversation again.

" _What if you told her you fell?_ " he offered.

Fera huffed. "Yeah, that one's going to fool her."

He gave a deep roll of his engine. " _Well I'm sorry for trying to help_ ," he retorted sharply.

"This isn't some break or bruise - I was stabbed. She'll know better," Fera went on.

" _Has anyone told you I've only been on this planet for a few orns?_ "

"And has anyone told you that I have no idea what an orn is?" Her tone was equally as venomous, like the rare fexas found on Cybertron.

\- _A fexa is a small, snake-like creature who dwells in the vast mercury seas of Cybertron. They have toxic rust-inducing saliva that excrete from their fangs. They were considered aggressive and highly dangerous, even to trained professionals. On one occasion, an Autobot scout on patrol named Linkpart had accidentally stepped into a nest of one of these creatures. He was bitten and less than a groon later, his entire body rusted from the inside out._ -

" _A few weeks. It didn't exactly give me enough time to figure human psychology_."

"It's common sense."

" _Maybe she won't even question it. You could be worrying too much_."

"She's my mother, of course she'll ask about it."

" _Well then, what do you suggest?"_

" _I don't know_ , that's the problem!"

" _Human minds are not that difficult to figure out, it shouldn't be too hard_."

"I didn't know we were so stupid to you, Mister High and Mighty."

Her voice was stone cold, her eyes like ice. Sol's hood vibrated as his vents let out a groan. " _That isn't what I meant_." His frustration seemed to melt away, the knowing that his words may have offended the young human sparking to the forefront of his CPU.

Fera crossed her arms again, her eyes narrowing. "I'm afraid I don't see what you actually mean," she seared.

Sol knew he said something he shouldn't have, but the fact he was being talked down to by her was embarrassing. " _Listen_ ," he began with a stern tone to his voice, " _I never said that you or the human race was 'stupid.' A species such as yours is in no way dull._ "

Fera glared at the radio with a gaze keen enough to slice metal itself. "Think about it this way," she began, icy, "the 'species' of this planet is capable of so much more than you want to believe. There are things about us you will never understand, because you are not _one_ of us. But what you should get is that if you underestimate one of us, it will surely come back to bite you in the ass." She then sat back and stared daggers out the window.

Sol didn't continue, surprised to silence at her intensity. Even if he could think of something, he wouldn't speak, knowing anything he said now would be turned against him.

It was obvious Fera had a temper.

And that she didn't take kindly to demeaning her kind.

They rode on in tense silence, the 'Bot soon pulling into the long dirt driveway of Fera's home. As soon as his wheels stopped turning, she grabbed the handle and swung it open, slamming it shut behind her. Sol winced, following after the female as she stalked up to her domicile. This would come back to nip him in the aft, that was for sure.

* * *

The audacity of that _asshole_! He was ridiculous!

Fera felt her anger boiling through her as she stared through the dark glass of the window. She recognized the familiar landscape of her home and waited for Sol to come to a stop. He finally did and she got out as fast as she could, throwing open the door and then purposefully slamming it shut. A soft grunt came from the vehicle and she smiled at herself, feeling marginally better.

Served him right.

Her legs carried her to the front door and she relaxed her features. "Mom, I'm home," she called.

Her mother quickly came into the room, her hands hidden in a dish rag. "Oh, hi, sweetheart." She smiled and came over, hugging her daughter. "Did you have fun at Wendy's house? I didn't even know you had that close of a friend at school." She turned and returned to the kitchen.

Fera followed behind and leaned in the doorway. "Yeah, it was really fun. We went hiking and did all that stereotypical sleepover stuff," she lied.

Sarah Lennox removed her apron and turned. "I'm so glad." She grinned as she pinched Fera's cheek and walked away. The smell of baked goods followed her as she retreated to get something from the pantry. And though Fera wanted to stay and nab whatever sweets she could, she knew she needed to be alone. She quickly and quietly went to her room, the door clicking closed behind her.

Her anger melted from her system, replaced by tiredness and soreness and pain. She flinched and tenderly placed her hand over her side, stepping over to sit on the edge of her bed. The sheets dented beneath her and she took in a sharp breath. To distract herself, she focused on her breathing, and glanced carefully over the room. It had been a long time since she'd had the opportunity to sit and appreciate what she could so easily lose.

She had a decent living space, with exposed hardwood floors, beige walls, and a dark wood drawer that held most of her clothing. She had a closet to her right and a window to her left. There wasn't much other than that except her bed and a fish tank on a squat table beside the drawers. The nightstand next to her bed had a picture of her family and an alarm clock. Her familiar quilt comforter made her want to lie down and rest her head on her old, deflated pillow.

But she knew she couldn't do that. The argument she had with Solas seemed only to stress out her wound until it was pulsing with new pain. She gently rubbed the spot and decided to lay on her back, staring at the blank white ceiling.

She felt slightly embarrassed at yelling at him like a child, but she was also proud of herself. A tiny human had stood up to a grand, mighty Cybertronian. She smirked and laid both hands on her stomach.

 _Maybe he should think before he talks_ , she thought.

The room was eerily quiet, the silence leaving only room for thought. Her quirked lip fell after a moment. She suddenly remembered Solas explaining where he'd came from, and the additional info from Dr. Shelby. Back when she'd been healing, awaiting the opportunity to go home, the woman had gone on to explain what had really befallen the Autobots in the years before Fera's arrival

* * *

 _"Sol told me that the Autobots came here from a planet named Cybertron."_

 _Fera had started the conversation, boredom overtaking her. Dr. Shelby had sat in her rolling stool then, plainly seeing that the young woman was lonely and too curious to rest as she'd already been told. "Could you tell me about it?"_

 _For a moment, there was a pause. And then the woman had come closer, pushing up her glasses as she often did. "Well, I don't know much about it myself. However, what I_ _do_ _know is this: the Autobots and Decepticons fought there for millions of our years. I think the Decepticons had wanted control over the planet." She stopped for a moment to roll back to the counter and spray some sanitizer into her palms. As she returned, she went on._ _"However, the Autobots stood in their way. Both sides went at each other for so long that by the time they realized their planet and people were dying, it was too late."_

 _The doctor watched Fera over the rim of her lenses. "The_ _Autobots_ _eventually learned that the AllSpark, their most powerful and holy artifact, had been targeted by the Decepticons. So, they sent it off into space," she said. "But, it wasn't long before they realized that the artifact was what would win them the war, and they went after it." She rubbed the rest of the sanitizer into her hands and crossed her legs. "It landed here and they found it after a few hundred years of looking. It turned out that Sam Witwicky had these glasses imprinted with the map to find it. Long story short, they killed Megatron, the Decepticon leader... **twice** , along with a plethora of other sadistic, psycho-murdering lunatics. But,_ _only at the cost of losing many of their comrades." Her frown was somber. "_ _Now their planet is destroyed, and the last of their kind is either clinging to what's left, lost in space somewhere, or here on Earth."_

 _There had been a brief stretch of silence, and a solemn confliction in Fera. Her eyes dropped to the floor as she found herself troubled at the thought of the pain the Autobots had to be going through._

 _"I hope that helped," Terra_ _said in a soft tone, leaning over to pat the girl's knee._

 _She looked up and nodded, truly grateful. "It did, thank you. It must really be difficult for them..."_

 _The conversation faded as the doctor finally stood to leave. Fera gazed up and watched her as she headed for the door. But she stopped, turning back. "Don't be fooled by their size and appearance, because they had families and young ones and friends..." She trailed off and reached over to grab the clipboard on the counter. "If I were you, I would do what they instruct. Being stubborn and difficult won't get you a warm welcome back." She shrugged a shoulder and Fera caught a glimpse of a smirk on the woman's face._

 _"Just look at Secretary Kepler."_

 _And she was gone._

* * *

This memory had Fera lifting her locked fingers to rest on her forehead. An extreme sense of guilt washed over her body and she sighed. Of course she would feel bad. Of course now she would be too proud to apologize in the daylight. And of course, she would be planning a long, thoughtful, and regret-filled speech to tell to Solas. She wanted to make amends with her so-called Guardian.

Make peace, not war. Wasn't that supposedly what world harmony was about? If it could work with the world, maybe it could work with an alien from outer space.

Fera burrowed her eyebrows and wondered if a saying here would work on someone from another planet.

Suddenly, her door swung open and she looked up over her feet. Her mother was standing in the doorway, her face set in confusion.

"Um, Fera?" She walked out of the doorway and towards the window, her hand grabbing the thin curtains. "What is _that_?"

She yanked the fabric away to reveal the Autobot still sitting in the driveway.

 _Idiot!_ Fera mentally screamed.

She looked at Sol and then her mother. "A Mustang?" she tried with a sheepish grin.

Her mother's eyebrow raised and she let the curtain fall back. "A Mustang. In Amoret, Missouri," she intoned, placing a hand on her hip.

"Yes?" Fera answered, ducking her head after moving to sit up.

Her mother shook her head and rolled her eyes. "And I guess that it's your car, right?" she assumed, getting a nod from her daughter. The woman waved a hand towards the window and placed it back on her hip. "Just where did you _find_ thatthing?" She seemed more confused then suspicious, seeing as her daughter would be more likely to return a wallet to the person who dropped it rather than steal the money and run.

"Well...it sorta...found _me_."

Fera tried to use a better excuse, but she found none. She was absolutely horrible at lying.

Her mom huffed and came to sit beside her on the bed. "Now come on, I know you have a better lie than that," she urged, glancing from the side of her eye. Blue eyes flicked from hazel to the floor, then around the room.

"You're serious," Sarah realized, shocked. Fera again grinned in guilt. Her mom wasn't buying it. "No, tell me the truth."

Fera sighed and leaned against the headboard. If she told the truth, she would be exposing everyone and possibly get them a spot in federal prison. But if she lied, she would be betraying the trust between her and her mother. It was a lose-lose situation.

"Well..." She paused to think.

 _Think of something! Anything!_

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. It closed again and Sarah began to lose patience. "Tell me you didn't steal it," she moaned, letting her head fall to the side and her face twist in worry.

Fera jumped up, getting a painful throb from her side. She winced and slowly sat back again. "No, of course not." She let her hand fall from the wound.

Then the thought came to her.

"Alright, it's not mine. I'm holding it for Wendy," she fibbed. "They're leaving town for a week or two and they wanted me to watch it while they were gone."

Her mother looked at her and then her side, a suspicious edge to her features. But she simply stood and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and saying something like "teenagers" under her breath.

"Alright, I'll believe you, for sanity's sake. But if the police come here, looking for you, don't cry to me. I'm not paying your bail." She then lifted her hands in the air and didn't put them down until she left the room. Fera grinned to herself, looking to the window.

Right... Back to the apology.

The window's shadow edged across the floor like a sly snake, the hours waning on for an eternity. Fera's eyes snapped open, her fake slumber allowing her to dodge her mother's checkup when the woman peeked her head through the cracked door.

The room was quiet and dark, the only sound being her shallow breathing. The thin curtains allowed the milky sheen of the moon to filter in, and the wind from the cracked pane gently played with the fabric. It was a peaceful scene, but she couldn't find sleep. Frustration soon replaced any attempts at rest.

She removed her blanket as swiftly as she dared, trying to not aggravate her wound again. If she was to be found by her mother, squirming in agony on the cold hardwood floor, there would be questions. And she didn't think she could fib anymore for today.

Her bare feet glided soundlessly as she went to her drawers and grabbed a pair of jeans. She pulled them on and stopped as she nearly lost her balance, having to slam a foot down to catch her weight. The loud _thud_ was a beating drum in the sleeping house. Waiting, the silence drew on. But there was no Mom and no light in the hall. The girl sighed and turned back to her bed, collecting her shoes to slip them on.

Her side seized up as she bent over, and her hand flew out to grip the edge of her mattress. She fell to one knee and tried taking deep, even breaths. The pain eventually ebbed, and she made sure to be more careful as she moved. Eventually, she was able to get on her shoes, and she stood.

She grabbed the jacket over the end of her bed and started for the door. She then tip-toed down the hall past her mother's bedroom. The silent darkness was unsettling, and incredibly hard to see in. This led to her stubbing her toe on the corner of a wall. She sucked in a yelp between her teeth, but thankfully swallowed it.

Once in the living area, she moved across the floor and gripped the brass handle before slipping outside. The warm wind brushed gently over her body and the bright moonlight gave a dazzle to the dew-covered grasses by her feet. She turned, walking down the driveway with a knot in her stomach.

What should she say? She had given herself hours to think of something, yet now here she stood, completely blank.

Sol was sitting only twenty feet down the drive, his headlights off. His black form was only detectable by the red lines running on his sides and the red spoiler on his back. Fera came up before him, walking around to his driver-side door. His window rolled down, and she leaned in.

" _What are you doing out here?_ " he asked.

Fera lifted a hand and patted the air, glancing nervously back to the house. "Don't be so loud. My mom's still asleep." She lowered her palm and returned to the glowing dashboard.

She knew that she'd have to apologize eventually, but she didn't understand that it would take this much courage.

"Listen, I came to say I'm sorry," she blurted, averting her eyes. "I shouldn't have yelled like that. You were only trying to help and I went overboard." She felt heat rise to her cheeks and she shifted on her feet.

Sol said nothing, not even making a noise at first. The girl looked at the radio and then the dash, uncertain of the quiet. Night air blew through the window and ruffled her hair.

Finally, a sound.

" _You shouldn't apologize, I should. I need to choose my words more carefully from now on_ ," he said.

Fera's eyebrows raised, stunned. She didn't expect _that_. Nor anything near it.

Grinning, she figured their conflict had been solved, and she made the move to leave.

" _But there is one more thing I need to ask you_ ," he called, summoning her back. " _Is there possibly anywhere I could stretch? I seriously doubt I can hold this form much longer_."

Fera chuckled, moving back. "There's a place you can go." She gestured over the fields. "An old barn that was built about fifty years ago by the first homeowners. It should be large enough that you can stand, and it's surrounded by overgrown plants, so you will have cover." She started walking, hearing Sol's wheels crunching after her soon after. "No one goes near it since Dad died, however, it is old, so you'll have to be careful with it." Sol didn't respond, but she was sure he heard.

Sitting in a grove of large oak and maple trees was the barn. It was pretty old, its roof almost bowed in. The walls were of decomposing wood and faded red and brown paint. The doors hung open, one clinging to its last hinge.

Sol and Fera traversed over the hill, across the dip in the field, and through the stretch of meadow with grass so tall it brushed her knees. Finally, they made it to the treeline and she stopped, her guardian pulling up beside her.

" _This is it?_ " he wondered.

Fera put a hand on her hip and studied the area. "Yep. Welcome to your new hiding spot." She lifted a hand and gestured towards the structure as if it were a lavish mansion.

The Mustang stalled, his shiny surface bouncing off the rays of lunar light. But after a moment or so, his engine revived, and carried him onward. Fera watched him turn around the crooked door and disappear inside.

After a few seconds of silence, and a couple bites from the local bugs on her ankles, the familiar sounds of a transforming Cybertronian rang out. There were a few steps from Sol that made the ground beneath her feet vibrate softly.

Then, a loud, racket-filled crash.

She jumped and ran forward, cutting around the door to see what was happening.

Sol had fallen to his rear, a series of wood planks, cables, buckets, and other miscellaneous objects scattered on the dirt floor. There was a bundle of long cords wrapped around his body, and he lifted a hand to shyly peek from under a few tangled with his arm.

"Oops," he rumbled awkwardly.

Fera slapped a hand over her mouth, trying, and failing, to muffle her laughs. Her side ached at this, but she couldn't hold back the giggles bubbling from her chest. Once again, she made eye contact with Sol and she was helpless against the smile that crossed her face.

Sol sighed, lowering his arm. "A little help, please?"

Fera's legs carried her forward as he began to helplessly pull and tug at various wires.

"I've known you for a week and there have been rumors that you have the capacity to level a city. Hoses and wire are not things I would have thought to bring you down with," she teased. She laughed again at his responding glare, and started to climb up his leg. She made it up his thigh and found the mech fiddling with the cords on his hands. He found her looking and he dropped them.

Suddenly, it started low. Then it inclined into a rich, full sound.

Sol was laughing. Actually, sincerely, laughing.

He lifted his hands, glancing to both and then at a surprised Fera. "It _is_ a little sad, isn't it?" he chuckled.

It was still difficult for her to get over what she'd just experienced. Seeing him as anything but a gloomy, brooding prick was odd.

He let the girl climb up his chassis to reach his shoulder after she found the right footholds. She grabbed a wire and began to untwist it, moving it out from around a pipe. She dislodged it from a crevice and lifted it up, allowing Sol to take it from her. He was slow to unwind it from his neck.

"Be careful up there, we don't need another injury, now do we?" he chided.

Fera huffed and yanked at a hose. It popped out easier than she predicted, and she was thrown back. She windmilled her arms, trying to gain her balance.

Sol's chest jerked when he glanced down at her, and she managed to catch her standing before she fell.

"See?" he pressed.

Fera threw down the hose and sent a burning glare up at him. "Yes. Now hold still before I leave you to untangle yourself."

Her words stalled the Autobot's movement and she was easily able to continue with one of his arms. Sol took each wire and hose after she'd lifted them into the air, allowing her to quickly move on. She finally made it to his other arm, and soon, she was back on his chest, working on the last of the hoses. She moved closer to his neck, finding one particularly difficult to dislodge.

"How did this even happen?" she grunted, tugging.

"I tripped, and I guess I accidentally dislodged these...things from the ceiling when I fell," he said.

Fera got closer and dipped her hand between some of Sol's wiring to fully dislodge the hose. "Well you're just lucky..." she paused to grunt in effort, "no one heard you." She gave one last yank and the hose came loose. Her body lifted and she threw it to the side, watching it fall. "There we go." She wiped her hands together and turned to face him.

Right then she froze, her hands slowing.

She was so close to his face. Mere feet away, she was able to see what he truly looked like, down to the finest detail. His features were a complicated series of plating and smooth grey sheets that were akin to the the muscles of a human face. His eyes were intricate, the pupils a blazing blue light surrounded by circles of tiny links and inner gears. When he blinked, a cover of overlapping metal slips came down. The movement of his gaze was constant - never resting and always absorbing his surroundings.

He was a wonder - a near miracle of robotic-biology. His features were odd, and very alien, but not something to fear. Being completely made of metal, while still having the abilities to feel and speak and experience life...it was mind-boggling.

Sol's eyes darted over her and she blinked, rapidly expelled her from her thoughts. She couldn't explain the feeling of his stare, burning through her.

"Thank you," he murmured, voice low.

Fera quickly nodded and took a few unsteady steps back, uncertain where to place her feet among the many different joints and bolts that made Sol's shoulder. She meant to say something, but her side began to seize again, the scarred tissues inside having a fit. She squatted down, keeping her balance on the armor sticking high out of Sol's shoulder. She figured it was one half of his spoiler, but she couldn't be sure. Right now all she could focus on was the lack of breath - the cramping - the inability to move.

She felt Sol shift. "Fera, are you ok?" he asked concernedly.

The twists in her muscles suddenly began to unwind, the pain dulling. She could breathe again, allowing her to take steady, slow intakes without agony ripping through her. She managed to nod and helped herself to her feet, using the bar by her hand for support.

"I'm ok... Just a little sore." She laid her fingers on the spot and kept firm pressure. Sol looked unconvinced, but said nothing.

Despite her independent nature, Fera allowed her guardian to help her off his shoulder, sitting on his hand while he slowly lowered her to the ground.

"I'll come back in the morning. Finals are coming up soon, so I have to study," she reported, not even looking back as she nearly limped from the room. She could hear Sol moving behind her as she left, but he ultimately said nothing.

Through the fields and meadow, she began the long trek up the hill. Her hand was still on her side and she kept it there until she made it to the door. She could feel a thorn in her shoe and bug bites all over her exposed neck and hands. She opened the door and slipped off her shoes. Thankfully, she made it back before midnight, so it had only been a couple hours. It wouldn't be but a few more until her mother would go to work in the morning. And only a few after that until Fera had to wake up for school.

Sighing, she moved quietly through the hall and into her room. Her covers came over her and she closed her eyes. As usual, her father haunted her dreams, and once again, her fingers clamped tightly over her necklace.

* * *

It had been right there - right then he had seen it: Wonder.

Sol leisurely walked over to the main support beam of the structure and gripped it, barely moving his fist. The pole squealed and creaked, and his digits flew back.

"What a weak structure," he mumbled to himself, turning to look around. It was large enough for him to stand like Fera had said, but it was cramped, so standing was about all he _could_ do. The levels above were open, full of prehistoric hay and termites. The border of the floor was lined with some form of stalls, which held nothing but rats. The entire barn was made of wood. There was barely any metal in the building at all. No wonder why it was slowly falling apart.

He tapped the back of a digit on one of the walls and chips of rotted wood fell. This entire place could fall apart at a touch.

Sighing, he sat down, leaning against the back wall. Even it complained of his weight. Though it felt nice to finally be allowed to return to his true form, he was stuck with a space that was even scanter than the one back at base. Laying one servo on his leg and another on his inclined kneebolt, he let his helm rest behind him. Here, his CPU became occupied with the memory of Fera just about a joor ago.

She had frozen at the sight of his faceplates, her eyes scanning over them in short, quick jerks. He had felt a slightly embarrassed tug in his chassis at the close attention until he actually looked at her as well.

She was an interesting figure.

With bright blue eyes and pale skin, she was indeed alien to him. Her hair was a warm mix of brown and gold. Her jacket was pulled tight against her thin stature, betraying how petite she really was.

From the windows above, a grey light from the moon filtered in on her face. It caught in her eyes, and their blueness shined in a nearly iridescent way - unlike anything he'd seen before.

He realized then how easy it was to crush a human. If he shifted wrong, or he didn't realize she was nearby, he could very simply smash her. Yet, it was for that reason that her kind was so interesting. They had no natural armor against attack. How had they survived as long as they did?

Looking at Fera then, he thought she seemed almost pretty.

In an alien, fleshy sort of way.

Solas' optics glanced up at the window now, taking in the vibrant glow of Earth's moon. It didn't give off as much light or warmth as the sun, but it was appealing. Cybertron once had two of them, orbiting unnamed around the planet as it drifted across space. He hadn't gotten the chance to simply sit and look at the sky here. It was filled with thousands of stars, millions of others, if only he had a telescope.

Again he thought back to Cybertron. There was a moment of peace there, one that was eery and unsure. Decepticons, Autobots, and Neutrals alike all hid from one another as crime raved the streets. Ruined buildings and hole-filled homes were a normal sight, the very atmosphere itself being filled with the stench of hopeless souls. Femmes were all but extinct, sparklings just as far gone. The dead bodies of Cybertronians were finally being placed to rest, each side of the war being entombed on opposite spots of the planet. It was no more than a memory of what it once was.

He couldn't imagine what life was like before the wars anymore. If his planet recovered, and he was able to return, he would be shocked. The chances that he would ever see Cybertron at peace in his lifetime was too slim to think about comfortably.

The mech's attention aimed at the entrance to the barn as grass rustled outside. A small creature, far tinier than Fera, strode into the room and stopped to look up at him. He shifted, sitting up and peering at the thing in confusion.

It was covered in orange hair, sticking out against the deep green of the grass. It had a dainty face, with a pink nose and two triangular ears. It walked on four peds, and a long tail lifted into the air behind it.

A long, low sound exited its mouth and Sol's helm reared back in surprise. The creature started forward, walking right up to him without fear. It seemed almost _bored_. He watched the thing as it suddenly leaped up to his ped and started padding across his leg. It came to one of the larger armor plates and stopped, soon settling itself into a crevice. A soft rumbling began vibrating its body, and Sol's optic ridges came down.

 _What in the name of Primus...?_ he wondered.

He had to scan the creature and run through his files before he came across a match. It was called a cat.

The creature was weird - nothing that Sol had ever encountered previously. Interested, he slowly reached down and tried to touch it, using one digit to do so. The cat saw him coming, jumping up and arching its back. The hair on its spine stood on end and its sharp denta flashed menacingly. Immediately, Sol pulled back, bewildered and annoyed.

The cat calmed down, laying once again and curling its tail around its body. The vibrations started and the mech it laid on vented a long rush of air, his helm falling back against the wall. His chassis thrummed with the air circulating through his vents and the whirring came at a slow, shallow pace. His sparkbeat slowed and he could feel the weariness settling over him.

Not long after, he fell deep into recharge. The cat on his leg could barely be felt, its presence nothing more than a feather.

At least things had been settled between Fera and himself. Besides the barn, maybe Guardianship wouldn't be such a bad thing...

* * *

 _Beep. Beep. Beep_.

Again and again and again.

Fera groaned and rolled on her stomach, her hair falling over her face. Her eyes batted open and she lifted a hand to move a few strands to see.

Her alarm clock was screaming at her, the time reading five-thirty AM. The room has the smell of morning rain and one of her blankets had somehow been pushed off the bed. Her pillow was twisted under her head and her long legs were still trapped in her jeans from last night.

She gave a short huff and shifted, her entire side tender to any movement. Suddenly, there wasn't enough bed, and Fera cried out as she promptly fell over the edge.

Her body hit the ground hard and she grunted, her hand flying to her side in pain. Still, the alarm clock kept ringing on.

Fera, having enough, reached on her bed and grabbed her pillow, throwing it behind her and knocking the annoying thing off the nightstand. It crashed to the ground and clattered away, but its noise finally stopped. The silence was welcomed, giving her enough time to try to situate herself.

Suddenly, her door swung open and she jerked in surprise, and again, winced.

"What's going on in here?"

It was her mother, her hair a mess and her pajamas still on. There was concern on her face before she found Fera. Seeing her daughter on the floor, she rolled her eyes and walked out of the room.

"Thanks for the concern!" Fera yelled after her, using her bed to help herself to her feet.

"If you have enough strength to attack your alarm clock then I think you're going to be ok," Sarah retorted from down the hall.

Annoyance was the first thing Fera thought of, but she couldn't help the grin that crossed her face. Sometimes she wondered if her mother was more teenager than her.

Tired limbs stretched and fatigued hands ran through a nest of hair. She moved over to her dresser, switching out her pants for her last clean pair of bottoms: a skirt. Her nose twisted in distaste and she walked to the door.

"Hey, Mom? Do I have any clean jeans?" she called.

It didn't take long to see the woman as she backed into view from the hall bathroom, her toothbrush in hand. "They're all in the wash. _Someone_ thinks that running through mud and grass is fun." She then stuffed the toothbrush back in her mouth and slipped out of sight.

An agitated Fera closed her door, clothing herself in the skirt and a long-sleeved shirt. She left her hair down, her scalp too sore to try anything with. She pulled on her shoes, slowly coming to stand after her side seized up again. The time had passed quicker than she had thought, only allowing her to swiftly brush her teeth and grab her bag before nearly running out the door. A goodbye to her mom later, and she was standing in the driveway.

Sol wasn't there.

Her bag sunk into her hand and she slapped a palm against her forehead. Of course. Last night.

As fast as she could, she yanked her bag back on and tore down the hill, through the field behind her home, and towards the barn. She rounded the door and came inside, dropping her things on the floor. Concern found its way into her heart as she saw Sol sitting on the ground, his back and head laid on the rear wall. His eyes were flat black, his body motionless.

"Sol?" she murmured, approaching him. Cautiously, she patted his leg. Nothing. She hit a little harder. Nothing.

 _Don't be dead, don't be dead,_ she prayed

Finally, she tried a last-ditch effort and lifted up her arm, throwing down a fist.

The side of her hand connected with one of the plates of his armor, producing a loud, resounding _thump_.

Blue lights flickered in his eyes, and they finally came online, shifting and readjusting like they did before. Sol moaned and his head shifted, moving to gaze down at her. "Fera? What happened?"

He shifted, and there was a loud meowing sound. Fera craned her neck to see a stray tabby cat stretching on his leg.

"The question is what happened to _you_?" she wondered, watching the cat as it jumped down from its perch and ran off.

"It liked me, so I let it stay," he said. He got up on one foot and knelt before her. "What are you doing in here?"

One of his enormous hands came too close for call and Fera moved to the side. "I have school. I just wanted to tell you I wasn't going to be here, which meant you'd be here alone," she explained, turning around and walking back to her bag.

"Why don't I just take you?" he suggested.

The girl slipped a strap over one shoulder and quirked an eyebrow. "Really? Because a black and red Mustang won't attract any attention." She crossed her arms.

Sol's open, reasoning hand dropped and he sighed. "Fine. Let's put it this way: remember when I said I was your Guardian and wherever I went, you did?" he asked rhetorically. "Well I meant it."

Fera, growing more irritated, and tardy by the second, rolled her eyes. "This will not be a pleasant experience for you," she warned.

"I've been in war. How hard can high school be?"

He chuckled and began to transform, each piece of him relocating and clicking into place. The top of his roof slammed down and his wheels bounced. The passenger-door opened and Fera walked around, still internally awed. When she'd gotten into the cabin, she rested her bag on her legs.

"High school _is_ war," she said. "It's not particularly my favorite place." She laughed, but her words were nothing less than what she believed was true.

Sol started forward, driving out of the barn and quickly through the fields. Over the yard and on the road, the 'Bot clicked on his headlights and made his way to her school. The sun still hadn't completely risen, leaving the landscape in a vast curtain of lavender and grey. They traveled in silence, allowing Fera to enjoy the vast meadows and groves of trees.

A single house flew past them and a group of cows grazed behind it. Something bugged her at the back of her mind and she knitted her brow, confused. Instinctively, she went to her necklace, which felt oddly warm in her palm.

"Is there something wrong?" Sol asked over the music. He seemed to really like alternative, since that was all they listened to recently.

She jumped, her head snapping around. "No, I'm fine. Just...thinking." Her fingers pinched the charm between them and she noticed it had abruptly gone cold. The conversation she'd had with Epps came to the forefront of her thoughts. He said it was much more than a charm. But what exactly did that mean?

"Hey Sol? Do you know anything about this necklace I'm wearing?" There was a moment of quiet and music. Fera felt as though she were being ignored. "Sol-"

"No, no, I don't."

It was curt and tense, leaving no room for conversation. She wanted to argue, but she knew it wouldn't do her any good trying to force the information out of him. She would have to wait. Ignoring Solas' tone, she let go of her necklace and looked out the window instead. His behavior was strange of course, but what could she do?

To keep her mind busy, Fera took up the job of giving the Guardian directions to her school. Soon, they came through the parking lot of Miami High and Sol slowly navigated around, trying to find somewhere to park. Buses full of kids moved around the curb of the front entrance and dropped off its riders. Some of the older students filed out of cars. There were only a select few that were brought by other drivers.

She led him to a parking space close to the entrance and he stopped. "There isn't a lot of humans here," he commented.

Fera nodded and grabbed her bag. "There really is only about four-hundred kids here altogether." She opened the door and patted the dash before exiting.

The books in her bag shifted and she readjusted the strap. A slammed door later, and she basically had the attention of the arriving students and parking lot. The upper-classmen were sizing up her ride, as if comparing it to their own self-worth. A group of girls openly stared and leaned in to whisper.

Embarrassment overcame her and she ducked her head, trying to quickly make it out of the lot. A few of the kids went back to their own business, but the others could be felt watching as she nearly ran up the stairs and into the building. It didn't help when she could hear Sol's engine roaring behind her.

 _Just a few more weeks_ , she told herself once she closed the doors behind her. _Just a few more weeks_.

* * *

Solas sat idly in his spot, watching curiously as Fera dashed away and into the building she called "high school." Suddenly, a realization hit him and he nearly revved the engine.

 _Slag!_ he thought. _I forgot to ask how long this would take_.

There was a moment when he thought about retaining Fera's cellular phone number and contacting her, but he reminded himself that it wouldn't help. She had thrown it out the window a week earlier.

A few breems went by and the buses besides Sol pulled out of the lot. He followed behind them, seeing no reason to stay. Once on the highway, he decided to comlink to base. ~ _Solas Kaon to base. Is anyone on link?_ ~ he asked.

There was a brief pause, and then, an answer.

~ _This is Sideswipe. Is there an issue?_ ~ He seemed concerned, but Sol quickly put his worries to rest.

~ _No, no. I had a question about how long school was for younglings on Earth_.~

Sideswipe gave a loud sigh. ~ _I, don't know, did you check your files? Optimus should have given you information on Earthlings_ ,~ he answered, obviously disinterested. It was all fun and fights with that mech.

Sol searched his files. ~ _Nothing,_ ~ he reported.

~ _Well then we're out of luck. Ask Bee, he was with Sam while the kid was in school_.~

Sol agreed and cut the link, reaching for Bee. The cyberling opened his side of the contact easily, joyful for the hail. ~ _Bumblebee, do you have information on the length of an Earth school day?~_ he asked.

There was a brief pause on Bee's end before he spoke up. ~ _About eight hours,_ ~ he answered. Sol thanked the 'Bot and cut the link.

Eight hours? Was that the same as eight joors? What was he supposed to do during that time?

He drove around the city for a while, searching the buildings and humans around him. They all seemed to be in such a hurry. But he didn't find anything to do. Was this what Bumblebee had to deal with in his time with Sam?

After about an hour of exploring, he turned into a side street and passed through an abandoned construction area, with piles of dirt and gravel all around him. Massive trucks with long necks and hooked ends sat around, silent and still. It seemed like no one was around.

There definitely wouldn't be another opportunity to transform soon, so Sol decided now was best.

He stopped in the middle of two tall piles and felt his conversion shaft click, his form code entered and locked in. Now he was no longer one solid shape, but a series of combined parts. His arms detached and opened, his legs following suit. The hood bent and lowered, splitting up into both halves of his chassis. His legs pivoted and his peds slipped out and spread, supporting his form. He felt his helm slide up and over his head when something caught his attention.

Fearing humans, he ducked behind a pile. _Really?_ he nearly groaned, glaring up at the blue sky. _Can't I be in this form for only a breem?_

There was a shuffling in the dirt and a _clang_. Sol's optic ridges came down in confusion.

"Mistress Arachnid said that the human youngling was in this city. But where?" It was a mild, raged voice.

Not human.

Sol's CPU registered the assault code he entered and a blaster shifted on his arm. The plasma inside began to heat and circulate, flowing around the inner core and locking into the pulse generator. He held it close as leaned around the side. His neck stretched to its limit as he craned his faceplates towards the voice.

"She sent us to figure that out," a second voice hissed. "Now stop wasting time and let's get moving!"

Sol's optics got around his hiding spot, and he looked around. Two Cybertronians, both mechs, had the Decepticon emblems on their chassis. They were mere grunts, not warriors, their armor casings being almost identical.

One had a holographic map in their servos, flashing dots marking multiple locations. He could make out a majority of them, but only one caught Sol's attention: Miami High. His spark beat faster, his blaster almost coming around at that very astrosecond.

"Where to?" the other companion asked, gesturing at the map.

The Decepticon holding the hologram clicked something on the base and it zoomed in. "Here. Then we'll go through the others until we find her," he said. He'd zoomed the map inward, landing directly atop Fera's school.

Now, that was a problem.

Sol's vocal processor growled, a low, guttural sound. He then shifted to appear before the Decepticons. What luck for him, finding them now. If he had been somewhere else, leisurely driving as they had plotted... The thought was a heavy rock in his tank.

Both the mechs spun around, the hologram dropped.

"An Autobot!" one yelled.

His companion shoved him, running off. "That's obvious, you idiot!" he shrieked as he retreated.

Sol watched them both dash off in different directions. He quickly started for the one heading for the road, his blaster at his side. His free servo went to his hip, the loose metal there popping off at his touch. When he pressed the middle, it popped into a four-bladed disc. He drew back his arm and chucked it, catching the 'Con in the back. He collapsed, and Sol jumped, landing on top of him.

As the Decepticon cried out, Sol pivoted on one kneebolt, took aim, then shot the mech still running. His body rocked from the recoil. When the plasma made contact, the Decepticon was thrown across the ground, his optics already black. His comrade was still beside Sol, pitifully trying to crawl away.

The Autobot stood and dropped a ped on the mech, getting another pained cry. He then reached down and yanked his disk free, placing it back at his hip bolt as the enemy beneath him wailed and struggled.

His blaster was far overheated, its surfaces glowing. His CPU repeatedly rang with warnings, and his vents started up with a loud vigor.

"Get off... _me_...you vexpa..." the Decepticon grunted from underneath him.

- _Vexpas were a large, very clumsy class of builders on Cybertron. They'd been programmed specifically for the purpose of construction, but they were often very limited, inefficient, and clumsy. Their production was halted completely after the invention of the Constructicons, but their name is now popularly used as an insult in the Cybertronian language_.-

Sol snorted, getting low and pressing the Decepticon harder into the dirt. The mech's armor casing groaned under the pressure. "You're in no position to make insults, are you?" he noted darkly.

The Decepticon moaned with the pressure, and it's vents sucked in air as something snapped.

"Now here's what's going to happen," Sol began, placing his fists on the ground to get close to the 'Con's audio receptor, "if you don't want a hole in your helm, you will tell me everything you know and you will never, _ever_ come back here. Understand?" he growled. The Decepticon didn't answer, causing a flash of agitation to flare up in Sol's chassis. " _Understand?_ " He leaned harder into the Decepticon's back and the mech nodded quickly, crying out.

Slowly, Sol removed his weight, standing with his blaster still on his brace. The Decepticon flung himself onto his back, his optics wide. He was spitting curses as if it were all he knew how to communicate with. Sol simply glared, his blaster charging up once more. The Decepticon finally found silence, eyeing the lethal weapon.

From a distance, a Cybertronian could survive a blaster. However, at point-blank there was no chance.

"Now, speak," Sol commanded. The Decepticon dragged himself on his aft, his digits biting the dirt.

"If I say anything my spark will be ripped from its case!" he insisted.

Sol curled his servo into a fist. "That's not the answer I want to hear."

Suddenly, at the worst possible time, his comlink came online.

~ _Solas Kaon, this is Ratchet_.~

Sol hesitantly placed his digit against his comlink output, right behind his audio receptor. "I'm a little busy," he growled impatiently. The Decepticon dragged himself away a few feet and the 'Bot lifted his blaster, stopping the mech immediately.

~ _Well don't be, we need an update on the human youngling,_ ~ Ratchet bit back, equally as irritated.

"Ratchet, not now!" Solas yelled, dropping his arm for only a sparkbeat.

~ _Solas, this is not a matter of your occupation! Where is the girl?_ ~ He demanded this with an edge of worry. If Sol lost his charge, then basically all that had led up to this would be for nothing, and Sol realized this.

The Decepticon suddenly threw himself to his feet, taking off. Sol's servo dropped from his comlink. "Frag!" he spat, giving chase. The Decepticon jumped into the air, shifting his form and taking off in jet mode.

Sol immediately went to his comlink. ~ _Ratchet, I'm in pursuit of a suspected threat. He has a map with Fera's location, and I think he's going after her,_ ~ he reported, entering his form code and speeding off.

~ _How is that possible?! She hasn't attracted any attention to herself. How could they know about her_?~ he demanded.

Sol's engine roared, the shifts clicking into place as he screamed down the streets. ~ _I don't know! Maybe they.._.~ he thought through everything, every single moment of their time throughout the week. The information could have come from anywhere.

~ _Just get her and bring her back here, Solas. I will call her mother and inform her. For now, just keep her safe._ ~

And the link cut.

Solas drifted around the corner, the rubber in his wheels leaving black marks across the blacktop. A few unsuspecting drivers honked as he barreled onto the main road.

No police came after him, or he was too quick to notice if they were giving chase. He sped between the buildings and circled to the main road, where the high school rose in sight.

He barreled through the lot and whipped around the front entrance before coming to a screeching halt. His alarms clicked on, their blaring, obnoxious pealing ringing through the air. He kept it on, adding honking to the ruckus.

A breem passed. No one appeared.

And then someone was pushing out of the doors. It was a female, and it was Fera. She looked like she was ready to tear him apart.

"What is _wrong with you_?!" she seared as she got close. She didn't wait for Solas' door to open, for she did that herself. "Do you have a literal screw loose? Turn that off!"

The alarms stopped at once, and the door beside Fera slammed close. She jumped and looked to it, then the radio.

"Solas? What's going on?" She started for the handle, but he locked it. "Hey!"

With no time to respond, Sol reversed and swiftly spun around. His charge cried out in surprise as her body was flung back, and she clutched at anything around her to keep from slamming around.

It wasn't until his tires met road did he start explaining. " _Ok, listen closely_ ," he began, moving the rearview mirror to look back on the confused girl, " _the Decepticons know about you. I don't know how, but they do. I'm taking you home, then back to the base where we can keep you safe_."

Fera's face drained. "Oh my god," she breathed. One of her hands came up and ran through her hair, something Sol noticed she often did when she was nervous.

" _I promised I would protect you, so until we get to the base, we are not stopping after you get your things. There is no time to contact your mother, and there is no time to find anything you can't immediately grab_ ," he went on.

Fera simply nodded. He could tell she was overwhelmed. Who wouldn't be?

"Are we coming back?" she asked, looking out the window.

Sol paused. " _I'm not sure_ ," he admitted.

"One week... That's all it took for them to find me." She leaned forward and hid her face in her hands.

There was nothing he could say that would calm her down. They needed to focus right now, and her panicking would only hurt their chances. But the thought of a Decepticon finding the small human and ripping her apart...

" _Fera, breathe. You're almost home_."

She did exactly what he told her, taking a few deep lungfuls of air and then sitting back up. The color had returned to her face and she appeared more concentrated.

They came up the driveway and Sol stopped, quickly opening his door. " _Hurry_ ," he ordered, not even able to finish the word before Fera was out and running to the house.

All the while waiting for her, Sol kept a lookout in the skies. He also would look back to the house, setting on his thermal optics, watching the female as she ran around her room. After about a breem or so, she came running out, a bag on her back and another in her hand. She jumped into Sol's cabin and he tore off, ripping up the front yard.

Sol opened his link and comlinked Ratchet, ~ _This is Solas. I have Fera and we are on our way back_.~ he reported.

Ratchet could be heard over the radio, giving a sigh. ~ _Good. The others are informed of the situation and we are planning on meeting you here. Secretary Kepler is also informed of this_.~ He added the last part as more a warning than anything.

Fera looked down on the radio and rolled her eyes. "Him again? He's not going to arrest me, is he?" she got a worried tone in her voice and Ratchet huffed.

~ _Don't you know how to use a **private** comlink?_ ~

Fera threw her hands into the air and shook her head. "I'm not supposed to know anything am I?" she exclaimed. Sol winced with her words and he noticed that they were actually true. He hadn't really said that much to her about anything that important. Maybe she was catching on...

~ _Ratchet, there maybe a Decepticon on our tail, but I haven't detected them yet_.~ he reported.

Once again, Ratchet snorted. ~ _Great! Well, don't travel the entire way here. One of our comrades will meet you halfway for a hand-off. Be prepared_.~ Before Solas could say anything else, the link turned off. Fera was still looking out the window, her expression less angered.

For about a joor, they were silent. The discussion with Ratchet seemed over and done, the atmosphere calmer. But eventually, Solas knew he would have to say something, truly explain the full situation. But it was just too dangerous. It all was. The fact that she knew as much as she did was already a threat.

"Solas, I'm sorry," she suddenly said. Solas glanced back at her from the rearview mirror and saw Fera still with her eyes focused on the window. When he didn't respond, she went on, "I'm sorry for getting involved in the Autobots' business. I'm sorry for causing this much trouble. I'm sorry for...well everything." Her head gave a sad shake and her hand came up to rub her eyes.

Sol's engine revved and she looked up. " _What happened happened, end of story_ ," he stated simply. Fera looked at the floor and one of her hands held the Stone of Primus.

"But it's all my fault. I should have known better..." she trailed off and Sol turned to take another highway.

" _You couldn't have predicted any of this would happen. Your father worked with us, so it was likely you would meet us at some point anyway_." Fera nodded and said nothing else, just avoided looking at the radio.

What was wrong with her? Why did she think everything was her fault?

He silently moved across the road, scanning the road ahead for any familiar forms. Suddenly, one appeared over the hill - one that Sol was surprised to see. He expected Wheeljack, or Bumblebee, or even Sideswipe. They were the fastest of the Autobots. So why him?

Fera looked up and out the windshield, squinting her eyes. "Why is Optimus driving towards us right now?"

" _I thought they would send someone else,_ " he admitted, and sped towards his leader.

Yards apart, they slammed on their breaks and came skidding to a stop nearly bumper to bumper. Smoke plumed from the Prime's pipes, and his form growled in anticipation. He was ready to speed off as soon as he had the girl. That very girl was staring, dumbstruck, unable to think of any words upon seeing the warrior before them. Solas' door swung open, and the Peterbilt did the same.

" _Do you understand how important you are? What your safety means to our race?_ " Sol said.

Fera didn't answer right away as she grabbed her things, then hesitated uncertainly. "What about you?" she wondered.

Sol paused, not knowing exactly himself. " _I'm going to do my job,_ " he said as lightly as he could. " _Now get to Optimus before I hand you over myself_."

Fera stepped out of his cabin and walked across the blacktop to where the other mech waited. With a worried look back, she gripped the door handle, a foot resting on the step. But Prime seemed to say something, catching her attention. She finally climbed inside and settled into the passenger's seat. Solas did not move, even after his leader had turned around, and Fera's face disappeared from view.


	7. Chapter 7: Old Memories, New Pain Pt 2

Of The Spark and Heart

Part 1

Chapter 7 (6 part 2)

It was a strange experience - this fear she felt. There were times she'd felt this way before, such as in nightmares, watching her father fade away. However, it had been a very long time since she'd felt it this strongly.

Her heart pounded in her chest and her hands locked around her bag. Her stomach hurt. But then she would look in the side mirror and see him there, and she'd feel a bit better. The truck rumbled and her body shook, leaning from side to side when he turned. The necklace around her neck slapped against her collarbone.

Optimus said he'd be alright - that he was only doing his job.

"Will he be ok?" she asked nonetheless, glancing once again at the mirror. The black Mustang kept a steady distance behind them, a holographic driver visible through the windshield. Someone back at the base said that Optimus owned one too, but he didn't use it on the unpopulated streets like the one they drove across now.

Sitting beside an empty seat while they sped down the road was unsettling.

" _Solas Kaon is a capable and fierce warrior. He can handle himself_ ," Optimus answered, his tone unreadable.

So far, there had been no sighting of the Decepticon following them, but Fera's paranoia whispered that they were close behind, right out of view. She didn't need to actually see to know they were there...closing in.

She gripped her bag closer to her, laying her chin on the top. Her eyes trained on the floor and she pulled her feet onto the seat.

Hating the silence, she fought to find something to say. "In class today we discussed Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri." She gave a short laugh and Optimus said nothing. "Our teacher said there were worlds out there capable of life - capable of harboring human existence if our world was ever threatened."

Again, silence befell the cabin. Fera let her hands slip from the bag and tucked them between it and her chest. "It's an interesting thought. But wouldn't we just destroy it again? Look what we did here." As if she planned it, she looked out the window to find a smokestack factory in the distance, its massive towers billowing deadly clouds of ash.

However, the memory of what she and Dr. Shelby discussed crossed her mind and she immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." she trailed off. What right had she to complain when the Autobots had no planet at all?

" _It is alright, Fera, I do not take offense,_ " Optimus assured softly, taking a slight turn. " _If anything, talking about what has been lost is a better remedy than silence_."

The girl mentally kicked herself for being so thoughtless. Watching the empty seat beside her, she hesitantly went on, "If you don't mind me asking...what was Cybertron like?"

There was a brief pause. The sound of the road beneath Optimus' tires brought a comforting hum to the stark quiet. When he finally spoke, his tone was somberly laced with memory.

" _According to our oldest legends, it is made from the body of Primus himself. I remember great towers soared into its skies, climbing on until you could see them from space. Vast seas of liquid mercury bathed the planet for miles. The surface of our world was laden with streets built far above the ground, connecting every city - every spark_."

Fera blinked, thinking about the scene he painted. She saw massive steel buildings, too tall to see the top, with arches soaring towards the edges of the sky. There would be spacious dome buildings and viewing areas, with swift vehicles carrying passengers across the face of the planet at a blurring speed. It sounded like something straight out of _A Brave New World_.

" _At one point in its existence, there was peace, and Cybertron glowed a golden sheen. I was a young scholar then, training to better my home. This quiet failed to last however, for Megatron grew restless as a gladiator and activist, and hungered for war. We watched brothers and sisters die - I became someone I promised never to be."_ He was no longer speaking fondly. _"The energon wells ran dry, our young died, and we devolved into savages. Thus ended Cybertron's time of tranquility_."

It was a quick, easy-to-digest summary of his home, but Fera wanted to know more. Nonetheless, she didn't press it. If it hurt her to talk about her father, she couldn't imagine trying to talk about an entire deceased planet. Instead, she looked back out the window and saw Sol where he had been twenty minutes ago. And ten before that. And five before that. And two before that...

There was a bright flash.

A gasp split Fera's lips.

Optimus' wheels roared over the pavement, throwing her body against the door.

The pain in her shoulder and head became lost in the adrenaline. She held on to whatever she could to keep herself from flying across the cabin. Somewhere over the noise, she could hear Optimus and Solas' voices calling out in alert.

The light suddenly faded and her head snapped up. She saw Sol had dropped back, wheels smoking as he slammed on his breaks. A thundering black jet snarled above him.

Fera's bag tumbled off her knees as she twisted around in her seat. Solas was now transforming, rolling across the road before he jumped to his feet. He stood in time to catch the Decepticon as he too transformed mid-air, and came crashing down atop the Guardian. They collided hard with the pavement, sending chunks of it flying in all directions.

Fera's eyes grew wide and her hand flew to her necklace. Her throat hurt. She fought back panic.

" _Don't look_ ," Optimus firmly commanded.

Her body whipped back around, her lips pressed tightly together. She leaned her head against the seat and squeezed her eyes shut. Her breathing quivered and she could feel her hands shaking again.

"Why...did he stay back? He's going to get hurt," she insisted, trying to take her mind off the terror building in her. The road before them broke off and Optimus took the right path, driving as fast as his wheels would allow without tipping them.

" _Solas will survive. Getting you back to the base safely is our primary mission_." He sounded strained as he pushed his limits to escape.

Fera held to her charm tight enough that she could feel it biting into her palm. "But why do they want me? How did they know about me?" she breathed. She couldn't help it now. The tears flowed uncontrollably, beading off her chin. She threw her head into her hands, trying to hide the wetness of her cheeks.

" _We don't know_ ," Optimus reported simply.

After a few moments, she sat straight once more, wiping her cheeks. She forced herself to remember Solas' advice from earlier, taking deep breaths to calm down. It helped, but only slightly.

"How close are we?" she asked in a much steadier tone than she thought she could muster.

A holographic map flickered on beside her and she looked at it. It was similar to the one Bee had.

They were more than halfway back to the base, with less than an hour's drive ahead. Great. Just great.

"Of all the technology you have, can't you come up with a teleporter?" she sighed. One of the exhaust pipes before her gave a loud hiss and she jumped.

" _Sadly, no_ ," the Prime replied. " _We are limited to technology overshadowed by the Decepticons. On Cybertron, however, it was different._ "

The bridge before them straightened and Optimus slowed to a slightly steadier pace. Fera let her hand move over the padded seat beneath her, aimlessly rubbing her thumb over the seam.

Everything that transpired today was an overwhelming set of enormity and danger. There were transforming robots with feelings and friends and family. There was also a planet made _of_ one of the things, allowing the creation of an entirely new race. They had leaders and children and war and love...

Out of the blue, Fera felt very, very awful. Her mother was alone. At home. With Decepticons on their trail. She felt her face pale and her stomach twist. Absolute nausea overcame her.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Her hand flew to her mouth, the bile crawling up her throat.

Optimus quickly rolled down his window, allowing her to lean out. She retched painfully against the wind, the muscles in her side seizing and complaining. The wind whipped her hair across her face, the stinging helping to clear her mind. She slowly retracted back into the cabin, her hand wiping across her mouth. A cool flush of air escaped the vents before her, gently caressing her sweat-doused face.

"Thank you," she murmured weakly, pressing the back of her hand against her face. She only got a dull rev of the engine as a response. After resting for a few minutes, Fera voiced her concern. "She's by herself. They could find her any minute." Fear caused a tremble to rock throughout her body, absolute terrifying visions muddling her thoughts. Her hands gently slid off her face and her lungs seemed unwilling to allow for a full intake of air. Her emptied stomach twisted again and she grounded her teeth to settle it.

" _Who, Fera?_ " Optimus asked, snapping her from her thoughts.

Fera took up her necklace in her hand, her finger barely able to clasp together from the shaking. "Mo-mom. She should be coming home from work any minute now. And she's all alone," Fera managed, choking back the recurring sickness. She twisted the charm around in her fingers and swallowed the lump in her throat. Optimus had gone eerily quiet, not saying a word while they barreled down the road.

There was a moment when she caught herself looking back in the side mirror, trying to find Sol. Of course, he wasn't there. The moments ticked by, and the air around her felt tight and uneasy.

" _Bumblebee is going to retrieve your mother. She will rendezvous with us at the base_ ," Optimus announced abruptly, causing Fera to jump. She was on edge, startling at anything that moved. She nodded at the radio and slowly relaxed into the seat. It was an enormous weight off her shoulders and just one less thing she had to worry about. But there was still that matter of her own life.

They passed through the last city before and Fera sat straighter. The final building was left behind them and the road ahead opened up.

But once more, the air became assaulted by the light. Fera moaned in horror and stared straight into the blinding shine, her body pinned back as Optimus' cabin swung around. The light faded and only the smoke from Optimus' tires blinded them.

" _Hold on!_ " he yelled over the noise. Again, the flash, but less brilliant. It looked made of liquid fire, the ground charred wherever it landed. Optimus' body skillfully skidded completely around and he rocked from side to side before finally starting out straight again. Fera grasped tightly to whatever she could, the veins protruding from her claw-like fingers.

Her body hurled to the side as Optimus shifted violently, another blast appearing beside them. Fera got her face as close she could against the window to see who was following them.

First, there was nothing, just rapidly passing clouds and a dull grey sky. Then, a raven-black jet rocketed around into view, two large, circular guns hanging beneath them. A bright blue light charged inside of them and grew brighter, filling the mouth of each. Abruptly, the flash rang out, flying from the gun to the ground in the blink of an eye. It hit the roadway too close for comfort and the hit caused Optimus' form to buck upwards. Fera gasped as he slowly came back down, hitting the blacktop and launching her body into the air.

"That thing looks like the same one Sol was fighting!" she noted in terror. Had the mech lost? The thought sent another wave of worry through her.

" _No, this one is different - a tracker drone_ ," Optimus informed, swerving across the highway to cross over into the next intersection. Cars honked and quickly sped around him, nearly spinning out as Optimus had. He blared his horn, nearly deafening Fera. She clapped her hands over her ears, glancing back out the window. The hood before Fera could be seen to wobble, the strain being heard from the roaring exhaust pipes.

Another blast, this one just inches away.

Fera leaned away from the glass, as if the short distance would be any safer. Ahead of them, a large, empty series of warehouses and dark garages could be seen. The words _Franklin County Warehouse Co_. could be seen addressed on the front of one. Optimus sped straight for them, not slowing for a second.

"Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?!" Fera yelped, the buildings speeding closer. There came no answer from the large truck as he banked around the side of one building. Fera hung on for dear life to the sides of the cabin, her eyes wide.

The jet behind them blasted again, catching the back of Optimus. There came a low grunt from the Autobot and Fera looked behind them. It was still hot on their trail, its black, triangular shape twisting nimbly through the air. The warehouses passed by one by one, Optimus' truck form barely able to fit through the tight spaces.

He suddenly picked up speed, charging through the broken, worn doors of an abandoned warehouse. Fera gasped and tucked into herself, expecting there to be a shower of shattering, cutting glass. But there was only the jostling of Optimus' cabin as the doors exploded, a loud _clang_ signifying their demise. Fera couldn't help but look again, her body floating for only a heartbeat and then roughly being thrown into the air when he landed again.

The darkness behind the decimated entrance did not hide its size, dull sunlight filtering through holes in the roof and the empty doorway. Stairways and platform levels lined around the walls, boxes and scrap metal scattered across the floor. The sounds of the jet came swiftly behind them, loud and reckless as it roared inside the room.

Prime slammed on his brakes once more, skidding to a stop with Fera aimed at the rear wall.

" _Stay behind me_ ," he instructed firmly.

Fera nodded, collecting all of her things and leaping from his cabin. She nearly tripped over her own feet, leaving the Autobot behind and throwing her things behind a crate. She ducked behind it, her feet sliding across the floor as she fell to her rear and tried pressing her back up against the wood. She could hear Optimus shifting and change behind her, the slapping and ringing of metal against metal anything but what she'd become used to.

Unable to resist, she peeked over the rim of the box, finding the Autobot in his true form standing at the ready against a much smaller, strange-looking drone. It wasted no time, charging forward and lifting an arm to shoot from its wrist. Optimus' shoulder was hit and he jerked back with a sharp cry. But then the mech spun low to one knee, hand pressing to his back. A series of metal pieces clicked together at his touch, a handle forming between his fingers before he yanked it free. His own very large, very intimidating, gun.

He lifted it up and took aim, shooting less than the time it took to breathe. When he shot, a loud _boom_ echoed throughout the room. The tracker dodged, rolling across the floor. In-between Optimus' round, it got up on one leg to retaliate. Prime dived to the floor, causing a small quake.

Fera's body jumped and she fell back down hard, but she was immediately back up on her knees, looking concernedly over the top of the crate. She saw the tracker shoot again, catching Optimus in the back. He growled in pain and flipped over, returning fire. The shot flew through the air, forcing the tracker to jump in an attempt to dodge.

But the red-hot blast caught it anyway, launching it through the air like a puppet on a string. It slammed into the wall and completely ripped through it as if it were nothing but tissue paper.

There was no time to even blink as Optimus got to his feet and sprinted out of the hole after the fallen drone. Fera fumbled to stand as well, sprinting out after them. She made it out just in time to catch the drone and Optimus' exchange.

Its midsection was badly damaged, the inside of the wound glowing bright orange. It was holding the wound, blue liquid dripping from between its fingers. Its weapon was barely lifted, but then its arm gave out, and it dropped in a shower of sparks. Optimus was slowly walking towards it, his steps grim. Fera held on to the crate beside her as she watched the towering figure move closer. His face showed no emotion, hidden behind a mask. But even then, the girl realized that this was something she wouldn't enjoy.

The gun came up and Fera's knees went week. She wanted to look away, she really did. But she couldn't. Her mind wouldn't allow it. So there she sat, watching in stunned stillness as the shot rang out and the bullet struck.

There was an explosion of blue liquid mixed with metal shrapnel as the parts flung in every direction. The weapon in its hand fell from its grasp and the hand cradling its wound slipped to the ground. The view of the face was nothing but a jagged black hole, missing features, and wearing one buggy eye that hung from a pathetic wire. The destroyed head and body rocked once and did not move again. The dead blackness in its eye left a disturbing prick in her chest.

Was this what it was like? Was this cold, black stare the last view of those many dead on Cybertron? And to think that it was the same species against the other. Neighbors, friends, maybe even once brothers...forced to kill. Her hand flew to her mouth to hide the horrified gape.

Movement caught her attention and she looked up, seeing Optimus as his arm slowly lowered his weapon. Her hand slipped from her mouth and she blinked, shocked into silence. One arm was still hung up on the crate and she used it to help herself up as Optimus turned to her.

It was not a good idea to follow him here. This memory would haunt her. For a very, very long time at the least. Optimus lifted his hand and placed the gun back on his back, the exhaust pipe shifting and clicking back into place once it returned.

"You were not meant to witness this," he murmured sadly, crouching down. Fera swallowed, keeping her hands firm on the lid of the crate.

Just in this week, she met an entire new race, gained a Guardian, became involved in a massive government secret, was stabbed, and now she and her mother were being hunted down.

She sighed shakily and looked up. Optimus was gazing down at her with a face that she would have guessed had seen thousands of these deaths. Many, most likely, of his own comrades.

She sucked in a breath and dragged her fingers through her hair. "Life doesn't give a rat's ass about me. I mean just look at all I've been through this week." She gave a nervous chuckle and nearly fell back from her jelly knees. "But don't count me out yet, I've still got fight in me." She forced herself to her feet and gave a thumbs up.

There was almost a confused look on Optimus' face, but he seemed to dismiss it, standing and then proceeding to transform right before her. Wearily, she climbed inside, thankful for the support. Optimus drove her inside and let her grab her things before they left.

The sooner they got to the base, the better.

* * *

"Frag!"

Sol spat out a mouthful of energon. He rolled to his side and wiped away the mess, climbing to his peds. This Decepticon that stood before him wasn't a tracker like he'd originally thought. It was a warrior. And an experienced one at that.

He steadied himself and charged, the 'Con simply sidestepping him. He stumbled across the ground and rolled, coming up behind his enemy to launch from a bent knee. He tackled the warrior, getting a pained grunt for his efforts. A punch to the faceplates later, and Sol was on top of the 'Con, batting away at his lifted arms. There was a swift plunge of something like a knife in Sol's side and he roared.

The Decepticon beneath him knocked him off, whipping around to land a swift kick to Sol's helm. Sol rolled on his back and he gripped the pulsing wound at his abdomen.

"Look at the noble _Autobot,_ " the Decepticon sneered, coming to stand next to Sol. The mech then drew back his leg, planting a solid kick to the uninjured side of his cavity. He groaned and his optics flickered. Warnings blared through his CPU. "So weak and _killable_." The Decepticon's optics gleaming with an undeniable lust for energon.

Sol decided to play into the vulnerability game, making his moans and groans weaker. The Decepticon laughed, falling for it. He then flicked his arm, his bracer shifting to release a crude blade. These were simply designed weapons, quick to create in large numbers. But they were effective.

"With you gone, retrieval of the fleshling will be significantly easier."

This was the moment Sol knew his game was over, his fury building inside his dark frame. He waited for just another nanoclick, then he jumped. His body flipped around on his good arm, his leg swiping around to catch the mech off his standing. A surprised 'Con called out and fell to the ground, his armor sparking with the impact. Sol moved to his peds and held his wound, trying to slow the flow of energon.

"Who's weak and killable?" he growled mockingly.

Not given any time to answer, they plunged into a close-combat battle again. Sol would throw a punch and then the 'Con would come up with a dirty trick, maybe tearing at his faceplates or jamming his digits into Sol's wound.

A low rumble reverberated through Sol's throat as the pain coursed through his circuitry. He threw his servo down, reaching to crush the Decepticon's jugular cable. But the mech knew better, pushing up his arms to block the attack. They fumbled for less than a click before Sol got his servo free, able to pull back his fist and let his digits shift. Four sharp spikes rounded up on his knucklebolts. And without another thought, he swiftly threw the punch.

Sparks flew and metal crunched sickeningly. But it was nothing new. It wasn't something that disturbed him. Not anymore.

The frame beneath Solas jerked and the now familiar sound of failing systems met his audio receptor. He pulled back his arm and he found the dying mech with his barely functioning optics sunken into their sockets, caved in as half of his face sit crumpled.

Sol stood, peering down at his ruined enemy. There were circuitry cut and severed, energon spilling around him. His plating was now crushed and dented in multiple spots, his spark casing nearly exposed. He wouldn't live through transformation.

Sol knew the only thing to do now was grant mercy. He allowed his his bracer to shift. His blaster sat ready and warmed, waiting for a command.

"I didn't enjoy this," he stated. And he took the shot, blasting apart the mech's CPU and watching the internal workings fly in all directions. Bright blue energon was splatter across his form, mixing red and black with a glowing blue.

The body of the 'Con fell limp and Sol's arm dropped. His vents whirred harshly, one of them being crushed into a cripple. His arm came around and he cupped his tank, the energon still freely flowing. At this rate, he would leak out right on the blacktop.

A pained grunt left him as he lifted a leg and stepped over the Decepticon, slowly walking across the road. His energon trickled between his digits and dropped to the ground. His peds felt like they'd been filled with heavy lead, the soles barely hovering over the ground. One of his toe links caught on something and his body was flung forward. He was able to twist midair, landing on his aft.

"Fragging Decepticon, blasting me to bits," he grumbled, leaning back on one of the bridge's columns. The concrete beaded loose bits over his chassis and shoulderbolts, a few becoming lodged in-between his plates.

He couldn't reform like this. And Ratchet was far too long away to get to him in time. Again, he growled. The light of the sun flickered before his optics and he shook his helm. His CPU was buzzing and nearly overheating with information about his form. What to do. What could be done?

Sol glanced around, looking for something. He saw the burning edges of the Deception's blasted helm. It was glowing with hot energy, the heat cooking the metal before it cooled to a blackish burn.

He started, putting the pieces together. The heat had melted the plating until it was nearly liquid. When that heat was gone, it became a hard shell.

It would be an agonizing experience. It could kill him, actually. But, so would sitting here.

There was no other choice.

There was no hesitance inside his spark as Sol activated his blaster and aimed it for the ground right before him. The charge warmed, humming as the energy flooded into the pulse generator. He shot it once, the recoil vibrating the column he'd been leaning against. The concrete exploded in a shower of black rubble, most of it coming back to pelt him.

Sol flicked his arm to the side, the bracer rapidly returned to his arm. He then pushed himself forward, trying quickly to flatten himself to the shattered earth. The servo on his uninjured side flung out and grasped the ground, his digits sinking into the rubble.

Ever so slowly, he dragged himself forward. The effort caused overwhelmjng pain to travel through his circuitry. But he pushed on anyway, trained and drilled into preparing himself for this very feeling - this realization that he may join with the Matrix. It never bothered him. Not now, not then, and not ever. It was the thought of abandoning his position that drug him on.

He held a responsibility to his fading family. He also had a duty to protect this new planet they chose to call their home. And then there was Fera, the only one thing he'd been entrusted to guard no matter what.

That was what a Guardian's job was: To shield and protect. To allow freedom and justice for one and all who can experience it.

Sol finally came to the shallow crater and looked inside, finding the still-hot plasma laying in a small pool on the bottom. Soon, it would dry and fall apart like rust. But not before Sol would have the chance to do what he came for.

Quickly, he redirected his cooling systems on his servo. The digits became deathly frigid, the surface becoming coated in frost. He dug them deep into the pool, cupping them to bring up the plasma. Almost instantly, the cooling systems' attempts to keep him stable failed and the heat slowly began to melt through. The mech immediately flipped on his side and he lifted the servo, tipping it close to his wound.

The plasma dribbled out of the side of his cupped palm, flowing across his injury. The agony was instantaneous, a below ripping from Sol's mouth. His frame locked up, his form seizing over. His fist slammed into the road. Plasma slipped off his servo and gathered around his digits.

The smell of burning metal touched his nasal receptors and he blew the scent out of his vents. It was nauseating, making him want to purge his tanks. But he held that feeling back, his shaking form slowly gaining mobility once more as he moved back to look at the injury.

It was a long line of bubbling, deformed metal, set in a crooked covering of hardened, charred armor plating. It was riddled with holes, a vague inside of his internals could be seen as well as the severed pieces of his circuits.

But the flow of energon had stopped. There was now simply the pain and the faint awareness to try not to start the leaking again.

Once again, Sol fell to the ground, helm thumping against the road. His vents whirred hastily and his shell groaned with its weakened state. His optics flickered. He tried to keep conscious, preparing himself to push his digits into the searing plasma again if he was about to fall into recharge.

He found the strength to comlink Ratchet, hoping that the 'Con he killed was the last one nearby.

~ _Solas Kaon...to base. Is Ratchet on?_ ~ he asked, voice cracking. There was a pause and some static from his damaged audios.

~ _Ratchet here. You sound like scrap, Sol_ ,~ he relayed.

Sol moaned and gently rolled on his back. ~ _I feel like it, Ratch,~_ he agreed, catching another look at his wound.

There was a pained wince from Sol and then Ratchet responded, ~ _What happened to you? The last I heard of you was when Optimus left to retrieve Fera. And that was over two joors ago_.~

~ _We were followed. A warrior and a tracker drone. I took care of the warrior._ ~ He had to stop between each part of the sentence, trying to allow time for his vents to catch up with the strain of his body.

~ _And the drone?_ ~

~ _It went after Optimus. I don't know where they are, but I'm hurt. Bad. And I doubt I can hold on for much longer_.~ Sol tried speeding up the conversation, but it was causing precious energy to be wasted.

A few moments of silence passed. Ratchet must be looking at his vitals. ~ _Good Primus Sol, did you fall into the Pit?~_ he huffed, both irritated and concerned _. ~Multiple sets of your systems are failing, and those severed circuits in your abdomen could be fatal_.~

Hearing just how bad the situation was made him feel very, very alone.

Sol gave a small chuckle, shoving his nervousness down. ~ _Well that's nice. Why don't you tell me more faceplate to faceplate?_ ~ he retorted sarcastically.

Ratchet snorted in discontent. However, there was that aura of concern that he could not hide. It was in a medic's gridmap to feel worried for a patient, no matter their affiliation.

~ _I'll be there in less than a joor. If you die, Sol, I swear I'll find you in the Pit, bring you back, and kill you again,~_ Ratchet warned through the link.

There was no helping the humor Sol found in the old Autobot's words. The injured warrior's lip plates twisted up into a grin. He let his tracer beacon give away his location and he laid still on the street, his servos folded on his tank. The pain had faded some, but it was still immense.

 _What would it feel like to join with the Matrix?_ he wondered as the feeling in his peds numbed and the light darkened at the edge of his vision. _Is it like in the stories, warm and welcoming? Or is there no place for me in such a place of glory_?

"No place for a warrior. Not in that life. I'm not there yet."

He let his systems fall deep into involuntary shutdown.

* * *

It was a long, very quiet ride. The window was left cracked open to allow fresh air to circulate the space. The road flew by at a more relaxed speed, the cars around them insignificant to the wandering eye.

Fera tucked her legs close to her, glancing at the clock before the holographic driver Optimus now possessed. It was some man she'd never seen before, dressed in a crisp military uniform.

The time read three twenty-five. Her mother would be home.

But would Bumblebee be there? What would her mother think?

There was a joy in the realization that she no longer would have to lie about her nights anymore. But then there was the fear.

Would she accept this new life of sworn secrecy and deadly war?

No longer could they hide from her father's responsibilities. There could be no more pretending what happened didn't happen. No more running from the truth and dreading the next day. His memory would always be a painful reminder that what he fought for, they now did too. They had the protection and they had the new guardians.

But where would they go if they couldn't be saved?

Her knees were scrapped and her pants were sticky with dried blood. She could feel the beginnings of bruises being formed all over her legs and arms, one on her lower back after she had fallen while trying to make it outside. Bright blue eyes were now icy and full of worry, a dirty blonde tangle of hair framing their edges. Roughed up arms wrapped around her legs, pinning them closer. Dirt-filled fingernails dug deep into her pale skin. There was no conversation between herself and the Prime. She didn't have anything to say. And apparently neither did he.

The silence was welcomed, but it would have been nice to get her mind off of things. If she had been with Sol, she could be explaining what a bird was or why some humans think farting is funny.

The thought of the mech drew her to aim her eyes once more out the window, her attention set on the mirror.

 _I can't talk to him through the radio like the others can, so I don't know if he's ok or not_ , she thought to herself. _I wouldn't be able to do much._ _But...it would be nice to know if he was still alive_.

One of her legs slipped and kicked her bag. A dull set of clanking inside had her lifting her head. She leaned down and zipped open the pack, seeing her set of art materials her father had given her years before.

Her fingers clenched over the binder holding pages upon pages of empty sheets. She shifted around for her set of pencils. Bringing them out of the bag, she sat back and closely studied the tip of the pencil.

Not yet had she'd dared to even breath on these pages since he died, let alone draw again. Music and art were her two passions. But her father had given her these things, and she cherished them. Could she risk destroying them just to make herself feel better?

Her mind decided on an answer, and she looked back to the blank white sheet in her lap. She crossed her legs on the seat to act as a steady surface, and gently pressed the tip of lead to the page. Swallowing her nervousness, she drug her hand across the white, crisp sheet.


End file.
